Behind Enemy Lines: Scouting San Jose Earthquakes BigSoccer.com
FC Dallas has struggled at Toyota Stadium in 2025. Coming up this week is a double-game week that sees them host two of the best attacking teams in the league with San Jose and San Diego coming to Frisco.
Up first, the Quakes...a team that has seen a massive turnaround in 2025 under Bruce Arena.
Let's dive into San Jose and what they bring to Wednesday’s game, and how FC Dallas can start picking up some points at home.
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Key Player: Cristian Espinoza
The Quakes added a ton of firepower in the offseason to help out Espinoza, who continues to be one of the most underrated players in the league. He has four goals and eight assists on the season, which means if you are able to limit his time on the ball, it could go a long way in slowing down their attack.
Key Matchup: Ian Harkes vs Kaick
Harkes would have been suspended for this one but had his red card recinded. Kaick will be back from his recent suspension. Given how both players play with a lot of energy, this could be a really fun battle to watch on Wednesday night.
Availability Report1:
Suspended: none
Out: Noel Buck (lower body injury), Hernán López (lower body injury), Niko Tsakiris (lower body injury), Bruno Wilson (lower body injury)
Questionable: none
On Loan: none
International duty: none
Quick Notes:
Recent history in Frisco: The Quakes haven't won in Frisco since picking up back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018. They're 0-2-3 in the last five games at Toyota Stadium.
Last year against FCD: The clubs split their seasons series in 2024, with FC Dallas picking up a 2-1 win at home to begin the 2024 season. San Jose picked up a 3-2 win in October, which ultimately eliminated FC Dallas from playoff contention.
Recent form: In their last five league matches, San Jose is 1-1-3, with a draw coming most recently at Portland.
Where San Jose's goals are scored: Instead of the team comparions this week, we'll dive into some breakdowns of how the Quakes get their goals. As you can see, they are lethal inside the penalty box.
Graphics from Sebastian Bush
Potential Lineup:
Arena has been able to get plenty out of his attacking group, but that defense is still a tad leaky.
3-4-3: Daniel - Romney, Wilson, Rodrigues - Costa, Leroux, Harkes, Jones, Espinoza, Arango, Judd
Keys To Three Points over San Jose
- Limit mistakes in the back: We've seen games where Dallas does really well at this but the attack struggles. Against an attacking team like San Jose, Dallas will need to make sure they don't cough up bad passes in their defensive third as the Quakes do an excellent job of finding chances in and around the penalty area.
- Playing for the counter: I know I've been preaching the build up play through the wings in recent games (and for the most it paid off in SKC with four goals there). While San Jose scores at a high clip, they also give up a fair amount of goals, too. This game feels like a perfect game for someone like Anderson Julio to get in behind their defense with his speed.
- Limit set pieces: San Jose doesn't just do well at finishing off balls into the penalty area, they are also really strong at scoring off set pieces. Dallas will need to limit the amount of fouls that they give up around the penalty area.
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1 Note: MLS has a injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. Our scouting reports will include last week's report and will be fully updated the day before with our injury report for FC Dallas.
