Our prediction for this MLS match:
Real Salt Lake will be aiming to keep their 100% record intact when they take on San Jose Earthquakes at their Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday morning. The Royals kicked off the new MLS season in style, and, no doubt, the hosts are brimming with confidence ahead of the visit of San Jose. Both Anderson Julio and Aaron Herrera suffered injuries in the 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City, and they are unlikely to feature against San Jose.
The Earthquakes, on the other hand, quickly bounced back from a 2-1 loss to Houston Dynamo, with the team recording back-to-back wins over Dallas and DC United in the previous two league fixtures. San Jose continue with their old habit of producing much better showings at home than on the travels, and given Real Salt Lake’s brilliant start to the season, home win should definitely be considered. The good news for the visitors is that Chris Wondolowski returns from suspension.
Highlighted Player (Nedum Onuoha):
Nedum Onuoha was born in Warri, Nigeria on 12 November, 1986, but he was brought up in Manchester. He attended Xaverian College Manchester and he was a very good student. He was an outstanding junior sprinter as well and it has to be noted that he won the silver medal at the English School’s Athletics Association Junior 100 metres contest.
Speaking of his football career, he began playing at Manchester City at age 18, scoring three goals in 95 league appearances for the Citizens. He spent the 2010/2011 season on loan at Sunderland and in 2012 he signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Queens Park Rangers.
Despite the fact that he was born in Nigeria, Onuoha was eligible to play for England and you should know that he has 20 caps for England U21 team. However, he was never given a senior England debut despite being really close on several occasions. Onuoha won the Championship play-offs with Queens Park Rangers in the 2013/2014 season.
Highlighted Team (San Jose Earthquakes):
San Jose Earthquakes are members of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The Quakes have been participating in the league since 1996 and they won their first MLS Cup trophy in 2001. Back then San Jose outplayed star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy in the title game, but it has to be noted that they scored the winner in the extra time.
Two years later the Quakes managed to repeat the success, with the team beating Chicago Fire in the 2003 MLS Cup final. Avaya Stadium is the home ground of San Jose Earthquakes and the capacity of the venue is 18.000. The construction of the stadium cost no less than $100 million and the venue was opened in March, 2015. The club’s home colors are blue and black, whilst the Quakes wear white and red shirts and white shorts when playing on the travels.
Chris Wondolowski is the club’s biggest star and he has been playing for San Jose Earthquakes since 2009. The USA ace has 121 league goals on his account ahead of the start of the 2017 season.