Los Angeles FC could move top of the MLS Western Conference table by beating San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.

The visitors, meanwhile, head into the encounter only four points behind their forthcoming opponents, although Los Angeles do possess a game in hand.

Match preview

Despite dropping points against Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday, with former Derby County forward Johnny Russell cancelling out Denis Bouanga's 13th-minute opener to claim a 1-1 draw for his side, Los Angeles remain in an excellent position at this early stage of the MLS season.

Having won their first-ever MLS Cup by beating Philadelphia Union on penalties in last season's final, Steve Cherundolo's side are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy since their arch-rivals Los Angeles Galaxy did so in 2012.

The two LA-based outfits will face each other in the US Open Cup in a tantalising clash next week, but Cherundolo and his players will be confident of progressing having beaten their local rivals 3-2 in all three meetings against them in the previous campaign.

In the meantime, though, they will be hoping to return to winning ways in the league, with the possibility of returning to the Western Conference's summit on offer with a positive result should Seattle Sounders simultaneously drop points away to Vancouver.

San Jose, meanwhile, are hoping for a much better season this time around having failed to qualify for the playoffs in four of the previous five campaigns.

The Earthquakes finished rock-bottom of the Western Conference last time out, winning only eight of their 34 league games across the entire season, which unsurprisingly led to them opting to go in a different coaching direction in the form of Luchi Gonzalez.

The former FC Dallas boss, who most recently served as assistant manager to Gregg Berhalter for the USA national team, has made a decent enough start to life in California, taking 18 points from his opening 12 league games in charge to guide the club into the playoff positions.

However, the 42-year-old will be acutely aware that there is a long way to go for his side to prove that they are capable of competing towards the business end of the MLS season, while beating Los Angeles for the second time this month will be a lot more difficult given that they are away from home this time around.

Team News

Los Angeles appear set to remain without Jesus Murillo, Giorgio Chiellini, Antonio Leone and Maxime Crepeau due to leg injuries, while Kellyn Acosta is unlikely to be risked despite returning to first-team training.

Cherundolo used all five of his possible substitutes drawing the 1-1 draw against Sporting KC in midweek, so he should be able to name the same starting XI given that the likes of Carlos Vela and Bouanga were not flogged for the entirety of the encounter.

Earthquakes, meanwhile, will travel without Carlos Akapo and Nathan Cardoso due to existing hamstring and knee injuries respectively, but otherwise Gonzalez appears to have a fully-fit squad at his disposal.

He may be tempted to hand Ousseni Bouda a start after the Burkina Faso forward scored from the bench against LA Galaxy on Monday, but Gonzalez is likely to name the same side that was narrowly defeated 2-1 by their opponents.

Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Jakupovic; Palencia, Maldonado, Long, Palacios; Cifuentes, Ilie, Tillman; Opoku, Vela, Bouanga

San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Marie, Jonathan, Rodrigues, Trauco; Yueill, Gruezo, Monteiro; Espinoza, Ebobisse, Kikanovic

We say: Los Angeles FC 3-1 San Jose Earthquakes

Although San Jose have performed above expectations under their new manager, we expect Los Angeles to have too much individual quality for them this weekend.

The MLS Cup holders will be highly motivated by the possibility of heading towards the top of the Western Conference table with a victory, especially having failed to win their last league game.

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