Vancouver Whitecaps v San Jose Earthquakes: Gauld not expecting easy game against struggling visitor

Ryan Gauld says Vancouver Whitecaps will not treat the visit of San Jose Earthquakes as an “easy game” as they look to get back to winning ways in MLS.

Vancouver have lost just one of their last eight league matches but fired a blank for just the second time at home this season in a 0-0 draw with FC Dallas last time out.

They sit sixth in the Western Conference, but a win, coupled with defeats for Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids, could see them move up the table.

Gauld is prepared for a tough fight though, despite how it looks on paper.

“We’ve got to treat it like any other game,” said the captain. “They’re at the bottom, but they’ve still got a lot of good players that can hurt us if we’re not at our best.

“If you look at the standings, someone can say that [Saturday] is an easy game. But it’s not. We need to play a very good game.”

San Jose have won only five games this season, though one of those came in their last road match, beating high-flying Real Salt Lake 2-0.

Interim head coach Ian Russell is hoping they can build on that result as they try to finish the season on a high.

“It’s going to be a good road trip for us to play quality opponents,” Russell said. “It’s a place where we won last year, and we’ll look to get a result again.

“We need to start better in Vancouver than we did in our last game [against Minnesota United]. We have to go out on the front foot and try to put them under pressure. We have to get points on the road now, and it’s going to be a really good test for us.”

DROPPED #FC25 @RyanGauld https://t.co/QoDHZzskNJ

— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) September 11, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Vancouver Whitecaps – Mathias Laborda

Vancouver’s goalless draw with Dallas on Saturday marked just the second time they failed to score in a home match this regular season (0-0 vs. Austin on May 4).

It was not for lack of trying though, as they had 21 shots (though just four on target). Mathias Laborda had five of those efforts, creating 0.4 expected goals, though only tested the goalkeeper with one of those.

San Jose Earthquakes – Ousseni Bouda

Ousseni Bouda scored the Earthquakes’ lone goal in their defeat to Minnesota United on August 31.

Bouda is the seventh different player to score one of San Jose’s last seven MLS goals dating back to June 19, as no ‘Quakes player has more than one goal in league play in that time.

MATCH PREDICTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN

The Whitecaps ended a five-match winless run against San Jose (D2 L3) with a 2-0 road win on March 9. Vancouver have only recorded consecutive wins over the Earthquakes once in the last nine years, doing so during the 2018 season.

Vancouver have lost only one of their last eight regular season matches (W5 D2) following a scoreless draw with Dallas on Saturday. The Whitecaps have kept consecutive clean sheets in league play for the first time since October 2023.

However, San Jose defeated Real Salt Lake, 2-0, in their last away match on August 24, just the fourth win in the ‘Quakes’ last 42 away matches in all competitions. San Jose last won consecutive away matches in all competitions in July 2019, with the second of those being a 3-1 win in Vancouver.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Vancouver Whitecaps – 61.8%

Draw – 20.2%

San Jose Earthquakes – 18%