90min
·31 July 2024
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Yahoo sports90min
·31 July 2024
San Jose Earthquakes are all set to take on in-state rivals LA Galaxy Wednesday night in Leagues Cup West Group 2 action.
San Jose fell in their opening Leagues Cup fixture against Liga MX giants Chivas 0-0 (4-3 on penalties) in front of a crowd of 50,000-plus at Levi's Stadium. The Earthquakes went in front six minutes in thanks to a goal from Jeremy Ebobisse, but they were unable to see out the result as Robert Alvarado equalized in the 98th minute before the penalty shootout.
The primetime contest will be the Galaxy's first taste of Leagues Cup action this summer. Greg Vanney's team are coming off a 3-2 victory over Portland Timbers back on July 20, and they'll hope to carry over their positive run of form into Leagues Cup.
Here's 90min's preview of San Jose vs LA Galaxy.
Carlos Akapo is a doubt for the match with a hip injury / Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
San Jose have a rather lengthy injury list ahead of the clash against the Galaxy. Backup goalkeeper JC Marcinkowski is nursing a knee injury suffered in October of last year, while a hip injury had Carlos Akapo out of action until early August.
San Jose Earthquakes predicted lineup vs LA Galaxy ( 4-3-3 ): Daniel; Costa, Beason, Rodrigues, Maurie; Yueill, Gruezo, Lopez; Espinoza, Ebobisse, Pellegrino.
Dejan Joveljic is sidelined with a hamstring injury / Bob Drebin/ISI Photos/GettyImages
Galaxy boss Vanney will be without three regular starters, as striker Dejan Joveljic is dealing with a hamstring injury, midfielder Gaston Brugman is still out of action with a knee injury suffered back in May and full-back Julian Aude remains unavailable for selection due to a groin problem.
LA Galaxy predicted lineup vs San Jose Earthquakes ( 4-3-3 ): McCarthy; Yamane, Yoshida, Neal, Nelson; Delgado, Cerrillo, Puig; Pec, Paintsil, Fagundez.
Even as the Galaxy are down a few key players, they should still have enough in them to get a positive result against one of their rivals Wednesday night. The Earthquakes also have some quality here and there with the likes of Hernan Lopez and Cristian Espinoza, but they will simply be no match against the Galaxy's Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec and Riqui Puig.
Pec and Paintsil will both get on the scoresheet to seal three points for the Galaxy in their opening Leagues Cup 2024 fixture.
Prediction: San Jose Earthquakes 0-2 LA Galaxy