The Houston Dynamo travel to the Bay Area to face off against the San Jose Earthquakes for the second time in three weeks. Here’s what you need to know about the Dynamo’s opponents this weekend.

San Jose started the season on a tear, winning eight of their opening ten MLS games, but have found themselves in a poor run of form since that spell. Prior to last weekend, San Jose were on an eight-game winless run, losing five and drawing three, with their only clean sheet coming against the Dynamo in their goalless draw. The Quakes bounced back with a 3-2 win at San Diego in the midweek.

Key Numbers

San Jose’s strength this season has come in their offense, they find themselves eight in goals per match (1.8) and are third in total xG (45.6). Their offense is headlined by Preston Judd, who has scored twelve goals this season. Judd scored his first goal in nine games on Wednesday against San Diego.

Niko Tsakiris was one of San Jose’s most important parts of their great start to the season, and it’s no coincidence that their downfall in form coincided with him suffering from injury woes. Against San Diego, Tsakiris played his first full 90 minutes since April and he bounced back by scoring a goal and creating 2 more. Through 17 MLS games this season, he has scored 4 goals and created 7 assists, both tallies are already his career best.

Head Coach

Bruce Arena

Arena has been a mainstay in American Soccer for decades now, coaching since the start of MLS in 1996. Arena joined San Jose last season, narrowly missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker in his first season in charge. Despite a woeful stretch of form, San Jose still find themselves close to a home playoff spot, sitting in fifth place on 38 points, tied with St. Louis and just two points behind Dallas and LAFC.

Bruce has coached against the Dynamo on 26 occasions, boasting a record of 15W-7L-4D in those games. He has coached against Ben Olsen on 17 occasions, winning eight of those games and losing just once.

Last Five Matches

August 19 - LA Galaxy 1-0 San Jose
August 22 - San Jose 1-5 Minnesota
August 29 - Houston 0-0 San Jose
September 5 - Austin 1-1 San Jose
September 9 - San Diego 2-3 San Jose

Last Match Staring XI

Here’s how San Jose lined up for their last game, a 3-2 away win at San Diego

2026 Roster

Goalkeepers: Nathan Crockford, Earl Edwards Jr., Angus Gunn, Francesco Montali

Defenders: Vitor Costa, Max Floriani, Jack Jasinski, DeJuan Jones, Benki Kikanovic, Paul Marie, Daniel Munie, Reid Roberts, Dave Romney

Midfielders: Noel Buck, Nick Fernandez, Jonathan Gonzalez, Ian Harkes, Beau Leroux, Eduard Lowen, Edwyn Mendoza, Rohan Rajagopal, Jamar Ricketts, Jack Shakan, Kaedren Spivey, Niko Tsakiris, Ronaldo Vieira

Forwards: Nonso Adimabua, Ousseni Bouda, Darius Johnson, Luka Jovanovic, Preston Judd, Timo Werner

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