Nick Lima prepares a throw in during a game against Orlando City on May 17th, 2017 at Avaya Stadium. Photo by Lyndsay Radnedge.
After the slow start to the season, Orlando City will be looking to continue climbing the ladder in the Eastern Conference when they welcome the San Jose Earthquakes to town for their inaugural visit to Orlando City Stadium on Saturday Night.
Winners of three straight, the Lions are rounding into form behind Forward Dom Dwyer, who’s return to the line up has coincided with the start of their winning streak. In those three victories, Dwyer has tallied four goals and assisted on two more, including banging home his 99th career MLS goal in last Saturday’s victory in Philadelphia. With Goal 100 on the horizon in front of the home fans, expect Dwyer to continue the work rate that has him among the league’s top goal scorers despite appearing in only half his teams games to date.
On the other side, another MLS legend chasing a goal scoring record finds himself in the opposite situation as for the first time since 2015, Chris Wondolowski was left out of the starting XI in San Jose’s 2-2 draw with Houston last Saturday. Just ten goals behind Landon Donovan for the all time MLS goal scoring record, Wondolowski played super sub last week, coming on in the 67th minute with the Earthquakes trailing 2-1. With San Jose winless since Opening Night, first year Head Coach Mikael Stahre showed he’s not afraid to rock the boat, and while sitting Wondo was explained as a tactical change designed to add another midfielder to the mix, the writing may be on the wall the the Earthquakes are perhaps turning a page and may involve a new role for the club legend. Regardless, there will be much more intrigue than normal when the lineups are announced before the match kicks off.
Earthquakes Coach Mikael Stahre looks on during a match against the Houston Dynamo on April 14th, 2018 at Avaya Stadium. Photo by Lyndsay Radnedge.
The Earthquakes shifted from the 4-4-2 they had been showing in the preseason and the first four matches of the season to a 4-5-1 that played more like a 4-3-3 with Danny Hoesen playing lone striker and Jackson Yueill making his first start of the season. This formation and game plan is not one that suits Wondolowski’s strengths, but judging by how disjointed the Earthquakes looked through out the match, it didn’t seem like it suited anybody else on the pitch, particularly in the final third. Once Wondolowski was inserted along with Jamir Hyka, the Earthquakes returned to the familiar 4-4-2 and it payed off when Hyka equalized late to salvage the point for San Jose.
While Orlando’s offense has been clicking with the return of Dwyer, their backline still has some questions, particularly if their anchor Jonathan Spector is unable to play after going into concussion protocal in their win over the Portland Timbers two weeks ago. RJ Allen and Scott Sutter are also nursing injuries, which will force Jason Kreis into getting creative in patching a backline together.
San Jose also has some questions on the backline, with Harold Cummings sitting out an additional game for a red card he picked up two weeks ago against Philadelphia, we could see a return to center back for Florian Jungwirth. Jungwirth has been deployed in the midfield and as an outside back this season as Coach Stahre tries to find the best fit for the versitle German.
The Earthquakes have still shown little sign of life on the road so far this season, and with Orlando City rounding into form and looking like a team that can challenge in the East, San Jose is going to have their work cut out for them if they want to pick up some crucial road points. The Quakes attack is much more potent than they have shown for most of this season and this may be the right stage for a breakout performance.
Orlando City
San Jose Earthquakes
