Saturday, September 19 | 4:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | Levi's Stadium - Santa Clara, CA
🖥 | WATCH: Apple TV, Coupang Play (Korea), SpoTV (Korea), Local Bar Partners
📻 | LISTEN: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, Sirius XM Ch. 95, KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), & KYPA 1230 AM (Korean)
LAFC heads north to San Jose to face the Earthquakes on Apple TV’s Saturday Showdown, with a chance to vault into the top four of the Western Conference. The Black & Gold (11W-8L-7D, 40 points, sixth in the West) is grinding through a demanding road schedule, while the Quakes (12W-8L-5D, 41 points, fourth) are in the middle of a three-game homestand.
PLAYOFF POSITION
Despite its unfamiliar run of form (LAFC has won just one of its last eight regular-season games) the Black & Gold stands just three points behind second-place Houston and just six points behind first-place Vancouver in the Western Conference. The Quakes currently hold the fourth and final home playoff spot in the West, one point ahead of LAFC.
MLS awards home-field advantage to the top four teams in the first round of the postseason – a Best-of-3 series played in a home-away-home format.
THE OTHER DERBY
The Black & Gold has played five games away from home during its eight-game rough patch (1W-3L-4D) and now visits 68,000-seat Levi’s Stadium – home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers – for this weekend’s marquee matchup in MLS.
LAFC has played San Jose three times at Levi’s, with a record of 1W-2L-0D in those matches. Its lone win there came a year ago, by a 4-2 scoreline, behind a hat trick by Denis Bouanga (above) and a goal from Son Heung-Min, in front of nearly 52,000 fans. Each of the three matches between LAFC and San Jose at Levi’s has been played in front of at least 43,000 fans, and Saturday should be no different.
LAFC has a 3W-5L-0D away record against San Jose, but holds a 12W-8L-1D overall edge in the regular-season series.
SCOUTING SAN JOSE
The Quakes got off to the hottest start in club history this spring before recently suffering an eight-match winless streak. Coached by MLS and USMNT veteran Bruce Arena, the Quakes have found their form again, going unbeaten over their last four games, despite playing without Designated Player Timo Werner (6 goals, 7 assists) due to injury. Werner recorded a goal and an assist in San Jose’s 4-1 win at BMO Stadium back in April (above).
The Quakes’ summertime dip in form was partly due to a groin injury suffered by young attacking star Niko Tsakiris (3 goals, team-best 10 assists). The 21-year-old has returned with a vengeance, notching a goal and three assists in his last three appearances, including a Man of the Match performance at San Diego on September 9.
Last weekend San Jose earned a 1-0 victory over second-place Houston, with All-Star centerback Daniel Munie scoring the lone goal, and new goalkeeper Angus Gunn posting a five-save shutout.
During the recent transfer window, San Jose added DP attacker Eduard Löwen along with Gunn, Scotland's starting goalkeeper at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
ON THE PRECIPICE
LAFC has withstood key injuries of its own and has played more matches (37) than any team in MLS, yet the club feels perched on the edge of a breakthrough as it heads into the regular season’s final eight matches. Injured starters Sergi Palencia (right back) and Igor Jesus (central midfield) have returned to the fold over the last week, and incoming forward Armindo Sieb has shown flashes of brilliance during the 104 minutes he has played since arriving from Bayern Munich.
All Star forward Son Heung-Min stands second in MLS in assists (11) while forward Denis Bouanga has maintained the form that has seen him score an astounding 77 regular-season goals over the last four years – eight more than any other player in that span (Messi 69).
Ten of the 121 total goals Bouanga has scored in an LAFC shirt have come against San Jose. Only the Galaxy (11 goals) have felt Bouanga's wrath more often.
With his next regular-season goal, Bouanga will overtake Carlos Vela (78 MLS regular-season goals) atop the Black & Gold’s all-time scoring chart in league play.
LAFC WILL WIN IF
Its front-line rotation of Son, Bouanga, Sieb, and Jacob Shaffelburg – with perhaps a late dose of Tyler Boyd (1 goal, 3 assists) – finds space behind a San Jose side that has conceded 36 goals (9th-most in the West) and has been vulnerable at home (5W-5L-2D).
After a much-needed week of rest and training, look for LAFC’s forwards to hit the Levi’s Stadium grass running.
SAN JOSE CAN WIN IF
Tsakiris’ creativity opens attacking windows near LAFC’s penalty area. Last weekend the Black & Gold gave too much space to a Sporting KC team that was starving for a home win – and played like it. San Jose is also hungry, and Tsakiris & Company would love to feast in front of their big home crowd.
“One thing that has to improve from the game against Kansas City to this game,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos told the media on Thursday, “is not having a first half where we had such a lack of compactness between us. That is unfamiliar in my opinion because usually we're a compact team and against Kansas City in the first half we weren't compact. That's something that has to change from the first minute in San Jose.”
