Know Your Opponent: San Jose Earthquakes

Sacramento. San Jose. It's becoming a tradition at this point.

The Republic was put into a group with the Portland Timbers, Tacoma Defiance, and San Jose Earthquakes for the draw for the round of 32. It was determined that the Republic would be going on the road to San Jose. The winner will play the winner of the other matchup between Portland and Tacoma in round 16. This will be the 6th match between these two sides in the Open Cup. San Jose took the first three victories, all played in San Jose. But Sacramento has won the last two, both played in Sacramento. It's never a boring game between these two.

San Jose Earthquakes

Manager: Bruce Arena

Formation: 3-5-2

Regular Season W-L-D: 4-6-1 (MLS; 10th in Western Conference)

Last 5 Games: WLLLW

Path to Open Cup: N/A

Players to Watch: Christian Espinoza, Josef Martinez

Top Goalscorers: Cristian Arango - 7 goals

Top Assists: Christian Espinoza - 7 assists

Top Yellow Cards: 7 players - 2 yellow cards each

Top Red Cards: None

These two teams know each other well in this competition. And it has always been the home side that came out victorious in their meetings. This will be San Jose's first appearance in this year's competition as all the participating MLS teams enter at this stage. In last year's edition of the cup, the Earthquakes got a win over Monterey before having their run ended in Sacramento. It took a crazy comeback in extra time from Sacramento to see off the visiting Earthquakes with a 4-3 victory. All three players who scored for the Earthquakes are still on the roster, with Preston Judd, Hernan Lopez, and Cristian Espinoza. But they will have some reinforcements this year. The Earthquakes have undergone a facelift with the hiring of former USMNT manager Bruce Arena. Under Arena, the Earthquakes brought in players who are among the league leaders in the attack. Josef Martinez will be the name that catches a lot of attention. If you remember, when Atlanta United started earlier in his career, Martinez and Miguel Almiron lit the MLS on fire. Another player will be Cristian Arango, who had success with Los Angeles FC. Even more recently, Joel Buck was acquired from the New England Revolution, who will line up in the midfield.

This analysis will be assuming that both squads will be fielding full-strength lineups for that match. However, both teams have BIG matches in the lead-up to this one. Sacramento has a huge rivalry match as they travel to the Coliseum to take on the Oakland Roots. And San Jose will host 2nd place in the MLS Western Conference, Portland Timbers. San Jose will be coming into this match on a rest advantage as they play on Saturday, while Sacramento plays on Sunday. So, as I mentioned previously, Josef Martinez is the player to watch should he take to the field. Watch out for him to hang around the Republic backline and lurk around the defenders. He will be a constant threat as he buzzes around and tries to find a way to get on the end of some through balls from the midfield. As Martinez would look to be a constant threat, Arango aims to be a target to launch balls to. Martinez is one goal behind the league leaders for goal, one of which is Christian Arango. Arango is an opportunist. Arango is most threatening when he's in the opposition's box and acts as a pivot to lay the ball off to someone else or take a shot on his own. He is also available to pick up the ball in the midfield and dribble into opposing space to find his teammates. One of his teammates is the club's 3rd all-time leading goalscorer, Christian Espinoza. Christian Espinoza will provide a lot of width, being the right-most midfielder in the formation, or most recently as a winger. Look for Espinoza and the rest of the San Jose midfielders to try and ping balls forward to feed their attack. Espinoza is currently the leader in the MLS for assists. This is a potent attack that the Republic defense will have to be on their best game against.

Now, the Earthquakes play a similar formation to the Republic. The main difference is that Bruce Arena chooses to field five midfielders, whereas the Republic and Neill Collins regularly choose to have five defenders. This has led to the defense being leaky at times, as they only have three center backs that play compactly in front of their keeper. Only four other teams in the MLS have conceded more goals than the Earthquakes. And they are currently the team that has faced the most shots from their opposition. 69 shots faced in 11 matches in the league. The Earthquakes haven't had a clean sheet since the opening match of the season. They suffer from the same problem the Republic has had this season. Where if you can stretch out their center backs and force them to come to you, that allows some space behind for runners to take advantage of. Of the center backs for the Earthquakes, only one of them has played in every match so far this season and that is David Romney. It looks like Bruce Arena is trying to figure out who his best starters are based on this lack of consistency in his backline. 

Republic's Way of Victory: It will be interesting to see who shows up for this match. As I said, it's a busy week for both teams. But, the requirements for the Republic to win remain the same. The players out wide will need to make their presence known and pull the San Jose backline away from their position. Much like what we saw from Phoenix when we made a road trip down there, the attackers will have to make runs in behind and capitalize on the space afforded them. The San Jose defense will have to respect players like Dominik Wanner, Ryan Spaulding, and Jack Gurr if he can play, and what they can generate. And the same can be said on the other side of the field. Sacramento will have to absorb a lot of pressure and stifle any opportunity aimed at finding Martinez and the San Jose strikers. It's a team that Sacramento has beaten before, but this isn't your usual San Jose outfit. And Sacramento has failed to win at every time of asking when being the visitors against San Jose. It will be a tough one. Sacramento will have to sit in and take advantage of every opportunity to win this one.

What are your thoughts on the matchup? Let us know!

(Photo Credits to Sacramento Republic FC)