June 27, 2015: Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo (18) cannot save a shot on goal by San Jose Earthquakes defender Clarence Goodson (21) (not shown) during the game between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California, USA. The San Jose Earthquakes won 3-1.
Days after a 3-1 victory at Stanford Stadium, the San Jose Earthquakes host the Los Angeles Galaxy again, this time a US Open Cup 5th round tie. Although its likely both sides will field out a different lineup from Saturday night, the Quakes will look to recreate the result from 4 days ago.
The first question for both sides will be, “Who starts the midweek match?” The Galaxy will be playing their 5th of 6 games between June 13th and July 4th and looked to be tired on Sunday. It would not be a surprise to see a number of Galaxy reserves see serious minutes in this match, as they will be flying to Toronto to take on Toronto FC this weekend. San Jose will be missing Chris Wondolowski on national team duty for the Gold Cup, and the Quakes will have to identify replacements for their captain and key scorer.
On the field San Jose will be looking to continue the proactive passing they’ve shown in the last few matches to pick apart the tired Galaxy. The effective passing lead to multiple corners as well as the third goal of the game and the Quakes should look to recreate that success. Defense will come down to the central defense of Shaun Francis and JJ Koval. Their ability to stop the head of the the Galaxy attack will be key to keeping Bryan Meredith from being too busy in goal.
For the Galaxy they’ll need to find a way to make San Jose uncomfortable in possession to stop the attack from building and to force turnovers. The central midfield will have to step up on guys like Sanna Nyassi and Tommy Thompson and keep them from making easy passes. They’ll also have to be more dangerous with their shots. Bingham’s 4 saves on Saturday came too easy at times and 3 of the 5 shots on target for LA were from outside the box.
Regardless of the starting 11 both sides field, expect this to be a hotly contested match from the two long time rivals. The match will be broadcast from Avaya Stadium on YouTube at 7:30pm PDT.
