Preview: Dallas vs. San Jose Earthquakes - prediction, team news, lineups

The Toros will be looking to secure another playoff finish after ending up in seventh last term, while the Quakes will be aiming to place higher than last campaign's ninth.

Match preview

Taking charge of Dallas for a third-full season, Nico Estevez will walk his side out at the Toyota Stadium on Saturday night aiming to put last year's playoff disappointment behind them, with the Toros losing to Seattle Sounders over three matches.

After losing the first match of the best-of-three series 2-0, Dallas gave themselves a fighting chance of progressing to the next stage with a 3-1 win at Toyota Stadium thanks to goals from Paul Arriola, Jesus Ferreira and Jader Obrian, but the deciding match went the way of the Sounders at Lumen Field.

In an attempt to lift their first piece of silverware since the US Open Cup in 2016, Dallas have spent handsomely in the off-season transfer window, recruiting striker Petar Musa from Portuguese giants Benfica for a club-record fee of £8.6m.

The Toros have also taken advantage of the free agent market ahead of the 2024 campaign, bringing in Omar Gonzalez and goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer in order to bolster their defensive ranks.

Talking of exciting transfer activity, San Jose Earthquakes secured the services of 33-year-old Amahl Pellegrino from Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt earlier this month, with the attacker netting 32 goals across all competitions in back-to-back campaigns before switching Scandinavia for the States.

As one of MLS' founding members, the Quakes have enjoyed some heart-racing times in the league since its inception, but in recent times the California-based club have struggled to set the division alight, failing to make it past the first stage of the Western Conference playoffs last season.

A real issue for San Jose in 2023 was finding the back of the net, with Saturday's visitors only scoring 39 goals in 34 regular-season contests - only the Western Conference's basement dwellers Colorado Rapids (26) managed fewer strikes last time around.

Making an MLS all-stars appearance last year, Argentinian attacker Cristian Espinoza won the club's Golden Boot award in the league with 13 goals, three more than 27-year-old Jeremy Ebobisse.

Dallas friendly form:

San Jose Earthquakes friendly form:

Team News

Dallas will be without the services of Alan Velasco until early July, with the winger recovering from a cruciate ligament injury sustained in October.

Geovane Jesus's absence can be attributed to the same injury, and the Brazilian right-back has not featured for the Toros since September.

A ligament issue is also keeping San Jose goalkeeper James Marcinkowski out of contention for Saturday's season opener, with the 26-year-old targeting a return in June.

Former Internacional stopper Daniel is expected to be in between the sticks for the Quakes, who have not tasted victory at Toyota Stadium since August 2018.

Dallas possible starting lineup:

Paes; Twumasi, Ibeagha, Tafari, Junqua; Fraser, Illarramendi, Kamungo, Pomykal, Arriola; Musa

San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:

Daniel; Akapo, Rodrigues, Beason, Marie; Espinoza, Gruezo, Yueill, Skahan; Pellegrino, Ebobisse

We say: Dallas 2-1 San Jose Earthquakes

In an opening match of the season which could be quite cagey, Dallas having home-field advantage could make all the difference on Saturday night.

The Toros will be raring to unleash record-signing Musa on MLS, and we reckon that the Portuguese attacker will have a winning start to life in North America.

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