Sports Mole previews Sunday's Major League Soccer clash between San Jose Earthquakes and Los Angeles FC, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Having gone four games without a victory, Los Angeles FC travel to the PayPal Park on Monday for their meeting with San Jose Earthquakes.

Meanwhile, the home side are looking to end a run of five outings without a win on their own turf after winning each of the first two.

Match preview

Los Angeles FC manager Bob Bradley on May 9, 2021 © Reuters

Los Angeles FC failed to win at home for the third consecutive match as they suffered a demoralizing 4-1 defeat versus Sporting Kansas City on Thursday.

Bob Bradley's men found themselves four goals down before the hour mark courtesy of goals from Alan Pulido, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Daniel Salloi and Gadi Kinda, before Daniel Musovski came off the bench to pull one back for his side.

The Black and Gold are still fifth in the Western Conference despite their recent slump in form, but are now 10 points off the top.

Their next assignment sees them go up an opposing side who have claimed victories in the last two encounters between the teams.

Prior to that, Monday's hosts had won six consecutive matches in all competitions against the visitors, stretching back to the 2018/19 campaign.

San Jose Earthquakes head coach Matias Almeyda on May 30, 2021 © Reuters

San Jose were involved in a share of the spoils for the fifth time in the last six games following a 1-1 draw versus Portland Timber at the Providence Park on Thursday.

Javier Lopez's 24th-minute opener was cancelled out by Felipe Mora in first-half stoppage time to deny Matias Almeyda's men a second away win on the trot.

With 18 points from 17 matches, the Goonies are five points and as many places below their next opponents ahead of Monday's clash.

The hosts have recorded the fewest home points, joint-fewest home wins and the most number of home defeats of any side in their subdivision.

San Jose Earthquakes Major League Soccer form:

Los Angeles FC Major League Soccer form:

Team News

San Jose Earthquakes team before the game on June 23, 2021 © Reuters

Jesus Murillo is a doubt for the game after he was subbed off with a muscle injury against Minnesota United and missed the away side's last game as a result.

Twenty-year-old Kwadwo Opoku continues his spell on the sidelines due to an ankle injury which he picked up back in May.

A knock has forced Eddie Segura to sit out his side's last two outings, but he could make his return to the starting XI in this one.

San Jose's Tommy Thompson and Matt Bersano are down with knee injuries, ruling the American duo out of Monday's clash.

Benjamin Kikanovic is yet to feature for the hosts since damaging his thigh in a 1-1 stalemate versus Colorado Rapids last month.

San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Beason, Alanis, Cardoso; Salinas, Judson, Jungwirth, Abecasis; Cowell, Lopez, Espinoza

Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Romero; Palacios, Blackmon, Farfan; Edwards, Cifuentes, Atuesta, Kim; Vela, Rossi, Rodriguez

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We say: San Jose Earthquakes 1-2 Los Angeles FC

Neither team has been too convincing of late, and they both have gears to find going forward. Los Angeles FC have the better team on paper, which does not always translate to victory, but we are backing them to emerge victorious at the end of the 90 minutes.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a San Jose Earthquakes win with a probability of 40.86%. A win for Los Angeles FC had a probability of 35.02% and a draw had a probability of 24.1%.

The most likely scoreline for a San Jose Earthquakes win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.66%) and 2-0 (6.05%). The likeliest Los Angeles FC win was 1-2 (8.02%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.08%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-1 win for San Jose Earthquakes in this match.