San Jose Earthquakes v Orlando City – MLS Betting Preview and Prediction
San Jose Earthquakes and Orlando City will meet on the first day of September at Avaya Stadium, where they last clashed well over two years ago, back in May 2017.
San Jose looking to find their rhythm
San Jose Earthquakes looked like they’re in a terrible spot only a week ago when they suffered three defeats in a row. A 2:1 loss against Colorado Rapids, followed by 2:1 defeat against Sporting Kansas City and painful 4:0 defeat against LAFC made us believe they are heading down the spiral, but surprised us all when they managed to bounce back with a very solid 3:1 win against Vancouver last weekend. While winning against Vancouver at home is not something groundbreaking, it’s still a very solid result, especially if we dig deeper into what happened in that fixture. And digging deeper reveals that against Vancouver Whitecaps, San Jose Earthquakes produced a breathtaking 43 shots. While they did win by a respectable two-goal margin, they could’ve scored at least five goals on that day, yet they were slightly unlucky with their execution.
All in all, their performance against Vancouver was just spectacular, which, to be fair can be said for most of their matches in the last few weeks. We have to keep on reminding ourselves, that San Jose were not considered a playoff team, but from the looks of it now, they are a very solid contender for the top seven finish.
Inconsistent Orlando City expected to struggle
It’s no secret Orlando are not faring too well this season. A 9-7-12 record is all they have to show for and while they hold a solid 2-2-1 record in their last five league matches, we can’t see them having an easy time at Avaya Stadium. If there is one thing we have learned about Orlando is that they are widely inconsistent, meaning they can impress with solid performances one day, just as easy as they can disappoint and kneel down to anyone the next, which is why it should not come off as a surprise they are heavy underdogs against the Quakes.
Looking back at Orlando and their performance in the last five, they have defeated FC Dallas (2:0), drew against Toronto FC (1:1), defeated Sporting Kansas City (1:0), drew against Minnesota United (1:1) and most recently lost to Atlanta United (0:1). While it’s worth noting what they have shown should by no means be considered as a terrible run, Orlando does struggle on the road, where they have not won a single match in the last six played and only won three in the 14 away games played so far this season.
Verdict & Prediction
San Jose enter their weekend fixture with a very solid 9-2-3 home record, which is as of now the fifth-best home record in the league, only trailing LAFC, Real Salt Lake, Atlanta United and Philadelphia Union. The home ground advantage will prove to be SJ biggest advantage in their clash with Orlando City, who as we have established are by no means a good traveling team. The win for the home side is almost guaranteed here, which leaves us with the question, by how many will SJ manage to defeat Orlando? Looking at how dominant SJ can be at home, we would not be surprised if they manage to win with at least two goals margin. One goal would do the job, still, we believe SJ will take no risk and push for a comfortable win here, considering they can not afford to drop the ball and threaten their top seven finish.
Prediction: San Jose Earthquakes -1.50 Asian Handicap
Odds: 2.09 SBOBET
