San Jose Earthquakes (home)
- Bruce Arena's side will have other ideas after winning two of their last two at home, suggesting they will get their home-field advantage back.
- The Quakes have three wins and two draws from their last five matches, beating Portland Timbers 3-1 at home and drawing with Colorado Rapids 1-1 away.
- The Quakes have created plenty in the run into this match, but can be got at in defense at home where they have conceded 22 goals, or 1.57 per match in total.
Nashville SC (away)
- Nashville SC top the table with 63 points from 28 games, while San Jose Earthquakes are ninth with 46 points.
- Nashville have scored 1.29 goals per match on their travels in MLS 2026 and conceded just 0.71 goals.
- The Boys in Gold have played a similar number of away matches as home games, with six wins, five draws and three defeats on their travels this season.
- They've been in great form since their last game in California, going on a three-game winning streak that culminated in a 2-0 home win over Toronto FC and a 4-1 thrashing of Austin FC in their last away assignment.
Head-to-Head
- The last two meetings between the sides have ended draws, the most recent ending 1-1 in Nashville in MLS 2024.
- Nashville know that San Jose failed to win the last home meeting between the clubs and they'll be confident they can do the same.
Key Players
- BJ Callaghan's side have played in a 4-2-2-2 structure at times, then morphed into a 4-3-3 formation when they need to control the ball and a 3-2-5 build when they want to control the game.
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Key attacking threats (recent form and numbers):
- Preston Judd leading the MLS 2026 scoring charts for San Jose with 15 goals in 25 matches.
- Judd has four goals in San Jose's last five and has been well assisted by Beau Leroux, who has provided four assists in the same five matches.
- Sam Surridge is Nashville's main man up front with 16 goals in 21 games, but Hany Mukhtar has found his form of late, scoring four of Nashville's last 11 goals in the past five games.
Betting Insights
- Nashville SC arrive at PayPal Park as narrow favorites at 1.97, with San Jose at 3.3 and the draw at 3.9 ahead of this MLS 2026 game.
- This should be a chess match of a game as San Jose press and Nashville build, so the smart wager here is both teams to score at 1.42.
Prediction
- The visitors are going well and the hosts have been better at home recently, but Nashville will surely come to San Jose with the same mindset they have taken on to every away assignment this year.
- The two attacks should be able to cause enough problems and this has the feel of a top game that Nashville, currently top of the table, should nick.