Match Preview - San Jose Earthquakes
Game Info
Kickoff: 9:40pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: PayPal Park - San Jose, CA
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 2W-7D-3L all-time record against San Jose Earthquakes.
This is far and away the most wild head-to-head matchup for Austin FC through five seasons and change. After the first meeting between these two clubs ended in a scoreless draw (which also happened to be the first ever Austin FC match at Q2 Stadium), the following 11 games have averaged 4.27 goals per match, making it even more surprising that there have been six additional draws during that span.
Last season these two teams played three times, twice in the MLS regular season and once in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals. The first meeting was that Open Cup fixture, a game that ended up seeing ATX advance on penalties. But there were so many story lines occuring during that match. Not only did Austin FC come from a losing position to equalize twice, once in regulation and again in extra time, but we also saw Jáder Obrian (who was left back in ATX for that one) liking social media posts of goals scored against the Verde & Black on San Jose’s accounts and of course the ACL injury to Brandon Vazquez in the second half.
The two regular season meetings were not as frenetic. Austin hosted the first leg in late August, a 3-1 win behind goals from Osman Bukari, Myrto Uzuni and a fortunate own goal slid into the net by the Quakes Bruno Wilson on an Austin counter attack. The return fixture was on Decision Day, when Austin FC was locked into the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Due to the lack of stakes, head coach Nico Estévez rolled out a heavily rotated lineup and although ATX took an early lead behind an Owen Wolff goal, the Quakes ultimately recovered for a 2-1 home win that still landed them short of the wild card.
And of course, no San Jose preview is complete without revisiting the first Austin FC win in this matchup from April 2024, where Sebastián Driussi caused me to shed tears of joy with his 90+11’ game winning goal at Q2 Stadium.
San Jose Earthquakes Recent Form
One of the original ten MLS teams and initially called the San Jose Clash, the Quakes franchise hopes to be pulling out of a half decade nose-dive this season. They’ve had plenty of success in their nearly three-decade existence, winning two MLS Cup Championships (2001 & 2003) and two Supporter’s Shield titles (2005 & 2012).
For those unaware, the Quakes were on “hiatus” from 2006-2007 after the franchise failed to secure a soccer-specific stadium in San Jose and moved to Houston following the 2005 Shield title. There they became the Dynamo, taking a championship roster to H-Town where they would win the next two MLS Cup Championships before abruptly sucking for the rest of eternity after those players cycled out and they had to build something for themselves.
MLS returned to San Jose in 2008 and the Quakes worked their way back to prominance, culminating in the aforementioned Supporter’s Shield win in 2012. Since then however, things have been bleak for the club. They’ve won two Wooden Spoon’s (2018 & 2024) and have only qualified for the postseason once since Austin FC joined the league in 2021, a wild card appearance (and loss) in 2023.
Things did improve following the Spoon season in 2024, as the club hired Bruce Arena as the team’s new head coach and sporting director. The offense was as potent as any in MLS last season, scoring 60 goals, while the defense was a sieve, conceding 63 en route to a 10th place finish in the Western Conference.
San Jose is coming into Wednesday night’s match riding just about as high as they’ve been since the Shield win in 2012. Now 24% of the way through the regular season, the Earthquakes are sitting tied with Vancouver Whitecaps atop the Supporter’s Shield standings, with 17 goals scored and an MLS best three goals conceded.
On Sunday’s Episode 300, E claimed he was not yet convinced that the 2026 edition of San Jose was truly worthy of their standing in the table. That preview episode was of course recorded before the Quakes dismantled LAFC on the road 4-1 on Sunday Night Soccer. Rest assured, E has changed his tune in the Patreon Discord since!
I was with him on the first part of his methodology. Starting the season off with victories over Sporting KC (15th in the West), Atlanta United (14th in the East) and Philadelphia Union (13th in the East), followed by a loss to Seattle Sounders (4th in the West), wasn’t exactly shocking. But I was more impressed than my co-host with the road victory over the Whitecaps, who had lost just three times at home since 2024 and had a league-best +22 goal differential there last season, followed by the dismantling of San Diego FC and another win over Sporting. After the display the Quakes put on against LAFC, I think we’re all at least putting them into the “good team” category for the time being.
What’s maybe most surprising about this San Jose team’s success is the player personnel. This is a roster that lost names like Chicho Arango, Cristian Espinoza and Josef Martinez in the off season. Sure, they brought in Timo Werner as their marquee acquisition this winter, but he just scored his first MLS goal on Sunday night. The starting lineup against LAFC included seven players who were either draft picks or homegrown signings.
It’s extremely rare for a successful MLS team to have such an American-heavy tilt to the roster build and the fact that Arena has been able to put these guys in a position to succeed to this point of the season is impressive. For the start they’ve had I think everyone involved in their project is to be commended at this juncture, while also hoping that they get out ahead of their skis a bit on Wednesday and slip up against our favorite team.
Austin FC Recent Form
The ship felt like it was sinking following last week’s crash out of the U.S. Open Cup to USL side Louisville City FC, but I’m happy to report that the rising waters have subsided for the moment after Saturday’s 3-3 return to league play against Toronto FC.
It certainly wasn’t perfect, and of course, how can a result that’s not a win be classified as such given Austin’s standing in the table? But the three goals scored was something this team achieved for only the fourth time under Estévez and that offensive “outburst” was a welcome relief to the typical desert that the offensive side of the ball has become during his tenure.
If not for Guilherme Biro taking a knock to his noggin late on in that match, resulting in Austin having to defend a man down as he went through concussion protocols when the equalizing goal was scored, the Verde & Black may have very well escaped Canada with the victory. On top of that, Robert Taylor reinjured his knee in stoppage time and spent the final five minutes hobbling around the pitch.
There was no update from Estévez on the status of Taylor’s knee at Monday’s media availability session (he’s listed questionable on Tuesday’s injury report), but he did provide updates on Vazquez, Owen Wolff and Dani Pereira. I know I wasn’t the only one who was perplexed by the appearance of uncertainty concerning the date of Vazquez’s final check-up with team doctors, but the important takeaways were that the team will be without that trio against the Earthquakes.
To make matters worse from an injury perspective, Myrto Uzuni and Jayden Nelson popped up on Tuesday’s injury report with questionable tags. If those guys aren’t able to give it a go, the troubles caused by lack of availability will reach new heights.
To be fair, we shouldn’t be surprised if Austin is extra-cautious rolling out any players with bumps and bruises. The pitch at PayPal Park is so bad that even Bruce Arena commented on it last season in a press conference and the disastrous state of that field is what caused the ACL injury to Vazquez nearly nine months to the day prior to this match.
Given those injury designations, we shouldn’t be surprised to see the third short term loan agreement between the club and Austin FC II’s Jorge Alastuey. There’s also a chance we could see Ervin Torres’ first minutes of 2026 with the first team, though Estévez has opted for Besard Sabovic consistently when given a choice between the two to this point of the year.
Even though there were positives to take from Saturday’s draw, my mood headed into Wednesday night is one focused on survival. A draw against this red hot San Jose side with the personnel expected to be available for Austin would likely feel like a success. Of course, we’ll wait for the 90 minutes of context the team gives us to pass judgement. Shorthanded Austin teams of the past have certainly suprised us before.
But no matter what happens in this one, the 2026 Copa Tejas opener looms large on Saturday back at Q2 Stadium, and if I had a choice of pushing all the chips in on one of these two fixtures, I’m picking Houston at home every single time.
Injury Report
ATX:
Myrto Uzuni (Questionable - Ankle)
Jayden Nelson (Questionable - Lower Leg)
Robert Taylor (Questionable - Knee)
Dani Pereira (Out - Hamstring)
Owen Wolff (Out - Sports Hernia)
Brandon Vazquez (Out - Knee)
SJ:
Vitor Costa (Out - Lower Body)
DeJuan Jones (Out - Lower Body)
San Jose Earthquakes Players to Watch
Timo Werner - The 30-year-old forward arrived this off season from RB Leipzig after an illustrious career in Europe that included seven trophies and 153 career goals across ten Bundesliga (Leipzig and Stuttgart) and four Premier League seasons (Chelsea and Tottenham) as a pro. He got off to a bit of a rocky start in MLS due to injury but returned to the starting lineup on Sunday night against LAFC and provided a goal and assist in the 4-1 upset win on the road. If Werner is truly finding his footing with the Quakes, they may hover around the top of the Western Conference table all season.
Niko Tsakiris - Signed as the Quakes tenth all-time homegrown player in 2022, Tsakiris has improved enough to ink a contract extension in the preseason that slots him into a U22 Initiative spot for San Jose. He’s continued that upward trajectory in the early parts of 2026, recording two goals and five assists across his eight starts and playing all but one of the available 720 minutes this year. Tsakiris is building a dynamic chemistry between himself and his attacking partners on this roster and will be a focal point on the defensive scouting report for Austin on Wednesday night.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Austin After Dark - If you’re reading this far into the preview then you’ve likely heard the term “MLS After Dark”. For the uninitiated, the phrase refers to the general chaotic nature of Major League Soccer, particularly how the late-night fixtures in this league tend to have unpredictable outcomes or bizarre goals scored. Maybe I’m writing this too soon after the injury report dropped with two additional unexpected names (Uzuni and Nelson) on it, but the vibes are certainly not elevated in my mind since I predicted a 2-2 draw on Sunday’s episode. Short rest, bad pitch conditions and a lengthy injury report. How does Austin come home with a result? Embrace the “after dark” sentiments! Solidify the defensive structure, muck this game up offensively, bust your ass to every loose ball and trust that you’ll get a friendly bounce here or there that will provide an opportunity to change the game. If we have to make “Austin After Dark” a thing just to get points from this match, so be it.
Predictions
ZG- 2-2 Draw
E- 1-0 Austin FC
