San Jose returns to CenturyLink field where they look to continue to be the winningest road team in Seattle.

The San Jose Earthquakes travel to CenturyLink Field on Saturday, May 7th to take on Seattle Sounders FC for the second of back to back road games. The Quakes managed to take a point against the Philadelphia Union after Anibal Godoy received a second yellow card in the 59th minute, thanks to Simon Dawkins’s first goal of the season. Seattle is riding a three game winning streak at home after beating Columbus Crew SC last week and rookie Jordan Morris scored his third goal in three games but the Sounders still sit in ninth place in the Western Conference.

The loss of Obafemi Martins at the beginning of the season was a major setback for the Sounders and they are still trying to learn how to play their new 4-3-3 system without him. Coupled with injuries to Nelson Valdez, Andreas Ivanschitz, and Erik Friberg, the Sounders have yet to settle into the 2016 season and now have a hill to climb if they intend to make the playoffs. Jordan Morris has begun to find his scoring touch, which could be the start of things finally coming together for Seattle if he continues his run of play, and the addition of Hercules Gomez adds depth to the Sounders’ attack as well. It looks like Friberg will be healthy for the match on Saturday and possibly Ivanschitz and Valdez as well, although the latter two are more likely to come off the bench.

With the draw against the Union, San Jose is now winless in all four of their away matches. Historically, a trip to CenturyLink field is a great opportunity to get the first road win of the season as San Jose has won more in Seattle than any other road team since the Sounders joined MLS in 2009. Chris Wondolowski scored twice in a 3-2 win the first time the Quakes traveled to Seattle last year and no doubt he will be an important piece for the San Jose attack again this year. Adding Simon Dawkins and Quincy Amarikwa means a tougher task for the Sounders’ defense to mark this time around which could lead to the same mistakes from the Seattle backline that allowed 3 goals in that game.

Brad Evans was an easy target for detractors after the loss for losing his mark on Wondolowski for the first goal and then misplaying a header back to keeper Stefan Frei for Wondo’s second. The Seattle captain has become a much more comfortable center back since converting from a right midfielder last season and it’s hard to see him making the same mistakes as last year. The Sounders’ defense has struggled at times this season but looked very good against Columbus last week and it would be foolish to expect them to make the same mistakes as last year. Seattle will have to attack crosses into the box and not let Wondolowski get space if they want to keep a clean sheet.

Losing Anibal Godoy due to red card suspension is going to be tough for San Jose because of the physical presence he brings to the midfield. Seattle’s Osvaldo Alonso and Erik Friberg thrive in open space and the Quakes will need someone like Fatai Alashe to step into the role that Godoy usually holds. They’ll also need to find a way to deal with Seattle’s speed from the likes of Morris, Joevin Jones, and Oalex Anderson to stop runs into the box and free crosses from wide angles. The Sounders play much better when they have open space and time on the ball so keeping up with and slowing down the Seattle forwards and closing down on midfielders is going to be extremely important for the Quakes’ defense.

The Quakes and Sounders kick off at 7 PM Pacific Time from CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington and will be broadcast on Q13 Fox in Seattle and CSN Bay Area in San Jose.