Major League Soccer: Philadelphia Union take on San Jose Earthquakes
Danny Mwanga who is only 18 has been absolutely phenomenal this season and has vindicated Philadelphia’s decision to stick with young players. He has been their best goal scorer apart from Edson Buddle. He has been able to score in 5 of his last 6 games, the only game he did not score in was when he was substituted early against Kansas, when Michael Orozco's was shown a red card.
Sebastian Le Toux is another player who has impressed one and all this season, scoring 6 goals and giving 6 assists in his past 10 games. Additionally, Roger Torres is not as good as the famous Fernando Torres of Spain, but has shown that he does have the ability to influence a match when he wants to. He proved this when initiated Mwanga's goal against Chivas USA last week.
As far as the San Jose earthquakes are concerned, Chris Wondolowski, may once again be the man the team would be looking at when it comes to finding a match winning goal. He has already scored 3 match winners this season which is about 60 percent of their match winners at home. The Earth quakes have won just 5 from their 13 games this season.
Philadelphia’s Michael Orozco is yet to prove his worth as he has had a number of average performances. And ironically the team has had their best performance with their 3-1 win against Seattle, when he was not part of the squad due to a suspension.
San Jose has not been performing that well in their last 4 games, there has been a lack of creativity and the midfield has been in simple words, toothless. It has been the same story for them at home and on the road. They could not even beat a team like D.C united at home last Saturday and lost 2 points as the game ended 1-1.
Alejandro Moreno seems to have recovered from the knock that he got against Chivas, but if he is not able to be part of the starting 11, then Philadelphia may opt for the traditional 4-4-2 formation, with Le Toux and Mwanga as the 2 men in attack, and if Moreno does make it, the midfield would have to be adjusted to make room for one of their most influential players. While the rest of the team is expected to be the same as it was against Chivas.
For San Jose there is not much to change as it has been working well for them in the last few games, Defense has been their strength. But in attack they have scored only once in the last 3 games, so that may be an area to be looked at before the upcoming game.
Philadelphia on the other hand are currently enjoying a mini unbeaten streak at home, they have won 2 and drawn one of their last 3 games. A 4th game without a loss would give them their best home record ever. Philadelphia are believed to be the favorites coming into this game, but they have still not taken all 3 points in a game since May, and run of draws means they are more focused on not conceding rather than scoring. But still many believe they should be good enough to win 2-1 at home.
San Jose do not have a good record when playing away from home, and are sure to be embroiled in a tough fight this weekend. Given that they have a fit enough squad they would not complain if they go home with a point in the bag.
Tags: