Last Wednesday, the San Jose Earthquakes shocked MLS by going on the road and routing Sporting Kansas City 5-0. Prior to the stunning result, SKC had been unbeaten in 12 regular season home matches and had given up more than two goals at Sporting Park only once – in their thrilling 4-3 win against Vancouver on Aug. 15.
Until that Whitecaps match, goals had been pretty hard to come by for visitors to Sporting Park. Even after the goalfests there in the last couple of weeks, Sporting Park is by no means the easiest place to find the back of the net.
This week, I’ve broken down the number of goals scored per match for each team’s home venue. This data’s fairly easy to find, but often overlooked. Here, MLS Fantasy managers can get a feel for how frequently they’re going to see rewards for selecting players in certain locations:
The top of this chart should not be a surprise to anyone. Expansion New York City FC – with their prodigious attacking talent and iffy backline – have scored and conceded more than their fair share of goals at Yankee Stadium this year, averaging nearly four combined goals per match. I don’t see that slowing down this weekend, not with one of the league’s most dangerous attacking duos Kei Kamara and Ethan Finlay set to visit the Bronx with Columbus Crew SC.
BMO Field has not been a stranger to high-scoring shootouts, with Toronto FC placing third in MLS in goals scored per home game. Toronto host Montreal in MLS Heineken Rivalry Week action on Saturday, and I expect TFC to repeat their June performance against the Impact – a 3-1 win that saw TFC get goals from three different players.
What may be a little surprising, though, is San Jose’s place at the bottom of the pile. Granted, not all of their home matches have been at Avaya Stadium – they’ve played at Levi’s Stadium and Stanford Stadium this season – but the Earthquakes have only allowed six goals in 10 home matches.
With seven of their last nine matches at home, the San Jose defense may be worth banking on – AFTER Friday’s Heineken Rivalry Week match against the red-hot LA Galaxy, that is.
Do you think San Jose can hold off LA’s attack at Avaya Stadium? Where do you see the most goals coming from this week? Let me know in the comments below, and best of luck this round!
