Bruce Arena is offering no excuses as the San Jose Earthquakes look to snap a worrying slump when they host Minnesota United at PayPal Park this weekend in a clash between two MLS sides desperate for three points.

Quakes slide after flying start

The 'Quakes opened the season with just one loss in their first 10 games, winning the other nine, but since then they have managed only one win in their next 10. That victory came in a 3-1 triumph over the Portland Timbers before the World Cup break, and a run of five games without a win since the return (D1 L4) has seen them tumble to fourth in the Western Conference.

They remain just five points behind leaders Houston Dynamo after a 1-0 defeat to 10-man LA Galaxy, and Arena knows full well that recent form has fallen below the standard required.

“[Against the Galaxy], there are obviously some chances that we've got to execute, but there's no excuses at our end,” he said. “We easily could've scored three goals – that game should have been over, and you get to the 70th minute, and LA should be chasing the game.

“We just failed to execute, and the goalkeeper made a couple of outstanding saves. But it's all on us. I would have been disappointed with the draw, to be honest and to walk off with no points at all is obviously not very good.”

Loons stuck in nine-game winless rut

Minnesota are enduring their own struggles, with their winless run stretching to nine games after a 2-1 loss to Atlanta United last time out. They sit 11th in the West, having at least clawed out five draws in that stretch (L4), and head coach Cameron Knowles lamented the chances his side have squandered.

“We have to leave it [the last result],” he said. “We had to as soon as we walked out the building, because the next one comes quick.

“The effort to create some of the chances we did that could have potentially taken us ahead, or even equalized once we'd gone down, was really good. We just can't quite get over the hump.”

Players to watch

San Jose Earthquakes – Timo Werner: Werner created four chances off the bench in the Earthquakes' 1-0 loss to the Galaxy, as did Ousseni Bouda. It was only the second time over the last 15 seasons that an MLS team has had multiple substitutes with at least four chances created in a regular-season match, with Inter Miami doing so last August – also against the Galaxy.

Minnesota United – Anthony Markanich: Markanich scored Minnesota's lone goal in the defeat to Atlanta United, his fifth of the season and 14th over the last two years. No other MLS defender has scored more than eight times since the beginning of last season (Mathias Laborda).

Match prediction: San Jose Earthquakes win

History does not favour the hosts here: San Jose have won only one of their last 13 regular-season meetings with Minnesota (D4 L8), including losing the last four in a row. The Earthquakes won each of their first four meetings with the Loons in 2017 and 2018 before managing just one win in 13 since.

Since the beginning of May, San Jose are one of three MLS teams without a home victory in league play (D2 L3), alongside Minnesota and the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Earthquakes have not had a longer single-season winless run at home in MLS play since a six-match stretch to start 2020 (D4 L2).

But Minnesota arrive in the midst of a nine-match winless run in regular-season play (D5 L4) following their loss to Atlanta – equaling the longest winless run in league play in club history (June-July 2024).

Opta win probability

• San Jose Earthquakes – 46%
• Draw – 26.7%
• Minnesota United – 27.3%