San Jose Earthquakes vs Minnesota United Prediction: A cagey affair no doubt

The forthcoming MLS match of the rising tension of San Jose Earthquakes vs. Minnesota United promises to be a great match, with most angles covered: the form of the two sides and historical trends. On September 1, 2024, SJE will be hosting this competition against Minnesota United, where each of them will try to seek the best positions in the league ranking table.

The San Jose Earthquakes enter this game with a certain air of confidence, fresh from recording a 2-0 away win over Real Salt Lake in their last outing. Over the last five games, the Earthquakes have posted 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses. This somewhat mixed bag underlines a team capable of pulling off big wins but equally prone to lapses, particularly in defense, where consistency has been a challenge.

The Earthquakes have been generally solid at home during the season and look to capitalize on this against Minnesota United. The recent results do a lot to show some degree of unpredictability since you just can't tell which team shows up. That recent win could have shown some momentum building, but yet to be seen is whether they can keep that level up against a team that has given them fits.

With these trends setting in, along with recent form, cagey is the only way this match can go. This means San Jose will have to break their recent struggles against Minnesota and particularly in front of goal, where they have failed to score in the last few meetings.

Meanwhile, Minnesota United comes into this match after a 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Seattle Sounders. The team has recorded 2 wins and 3 losses in the last five matches, reflecting inconsistency. A loss against Seattle, in which they conceded three goals at home, underlines their defensive vulnerabilities, particularly against those teams who have potent attacking threats.

Away from home, Minnesota has been inconsistent, and that can be a cause for concern since they travel to face a San Jose side that will be keen to exploit any sort of defensive frailties. Despite such challenges, Minnesota has shown that they can pull off results, especially in high-pressure games, witnessed by their recent head-to-head success over the Earthquakes.

For Minnesota, the need will be not to lose their defensive solidity, particularly in an away setting where the pressure will be on to absorb the attacks of San Jose.

The history of the head-to-head confrontation of San Jose Earthquakes and Minnesota United is very balanced, with 7 wins by San Jose against Minnesota's 6, in addition to 4 draws. But recent meetings, including a 2-0 home win in this head-to-head, have seen Minnesota unbeaten in the last three games.

What this recent dominance by Minnesota indicates is that they seem to have found the formula to keep at check the threats by San Jose, mainly to keep consecutive clean sheets and control the game's rhythm. Also, worth noting is the low scoring trend in games played between this duo with under 2.5 goals in 6 of the last 7 h2h. What this points out, therefore, is that games between these matchups lean toward being tight games and favorable for defenders.

Both have been capable of finding the back of the net in their games thus far, but both have also shown susceptibility to letting in soft goals; maybe a game where the team that scores first wins. Recent successes against San Jose may suggest Minnesota adopt a conservative approach and look to capitalize on counter-attacks and set pieces, where they have proved successful in recent games against their opponents.

All things considered, recent form, head-to-head history, and tactical setup, a low-scoring draw might just be the result of this match. Considering San Jose Earthquakes are likely to struggle to break down Minnesota's defense, Minnesota themselves, despite recent defensive issues, showed enough resilience in past meetings to suggest they can avoid defeat.

• Under 3.5 Goals at 1.69 Odds
• Full Time Draw at 3.80 Odds
• Correct Score 1-1 at 8.00 Odds