Pre-match Preview: CITY SC back home to host San Jose as winless streak continues to grow

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Matrix Midwest) - St. Louis CITY SC will return to Energizer Park this weekend to host the San Jose Earthquakes.

Last weekend, St. Louis fell 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids.

A Rough Summer

The meeting will mark CITY’s final match of its congested May schedule, which saw the roughest stretch of the season thus far.

Not including U.S. Open Cup play, from St. Louis’s first match of the month on May 3 to its most recent on May 24, the club has secured one point out of a possible 15.

CITY has also been outscored 12 to four during that stretch, failing to score in its last two MLS Regular Season games.

On Tuesday, May 27, the club announced it will be parting ways with head coach Olof Mellberg. Mellberg’s 15 matches for the second-fewest by a permanent MLS coach in history.

“I think as a group in tough times, we have to stick together,” midfielder Jake Girdwood-Reich said after the loss to Colorado. “It’s either going to break us or make us, and we need to make that an opportunity for us to start winning games.”

St. Louis is still 14th in the Western Conference with 11 points, the third fewest in MLS. By adding another zero to its scoring column (for the eighth time this year), CITY is now just one goal ahead of the lowest-scoring club in the league.

And with the midway point of the 2025 MLS season approaching, St. Louis is already buried under an eight-point lead in the playoff race.

Undefeated Against The Earthquakes

CITY SC’s home match against the San Jose Earthquakes will be its first since letting go of Mellberg.

Although it’s a big debut for interim coach David Critchley, his opponent is one St. Louis has found abundant success against.

The Earthquakes jumped into seventh place this week after defeating the LA Galaxy 1-0 on Wednesday. This extended its unbeaten run to six matches in MLS play, with 13 goals scored throughout that span.

A recent coach firing usually ignites teams in this league; however, San Jose will enter Saturday with its own motives. And this could be the one game of the year where having a defensive legend as coach might’ve proven extremely useful for St. Louis.

CITY SC has defeated the Earthquakes in all four meetings between the two sides, averaging nearly 2.5 goals per match and allowing just two.

But this is a different San Jose club than in past years. The ‘Quakes have accumulated a league-leading 33 goals thus far. They are second in the league in on-target scoring attempts and assists, and have a top 10 shooting percentage figure.

Cristian “Chicho” Arango has undoubtedly been enjoying his return to California. The Colombian forward leads the club in scoring, with nine goals (tied for third in all of MLS).

Arango will not be a welcome guest at Energizer Park this Saturday. This is primarily due to the second-half hat-trick he produced the last time he was there, which led to his former club, Real Salt Lake, securing a 3-1 win.

What’s interesting about this San Jose squad is that, despite its impressive scoring numbers, the club isn’t even in the top three for goal differential. Along with being the top-scoring club in the league, the ‘Quakes have also allowed more goals than all but two teams in the Western Conference.

And the last time St. Louis went through a coaching change, goals started to arrive in bunches. So, it’s possible that both clubs will go tic for tat, which has been a foreign concept to this year’s CITY faithful. And it’s also important to note that the Earthquakes already played midweek, whereas St. Louis has had twice as much time to recover.

But even if they don’t and St. Louis ends up being a pawn in San Jose’s dominating scoring run, it’s still important to recognize the current climate and understand that it could be a long time before this club finds a way to win consistently.

The match kicks off at 1:30 p.m. at Energizer Park on Saturday, May 31.

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