Earthquakes-Sounders Preview

The Seattle Sounders finished at the opposite end of the Western Conference standings from the San Jose Earthquakes last year but had a lackluster record in the season series.

The Sounders, however, have fared well in recent home games against the Earthquakes, who will try to earn their first win since beating Seattle in August on Saturday night.

Seattle claimed its first Supporters' Shield in 2014 while San Jose finished at the bottom of the West and two points ahead of Montreal for the fewest in the league. The Sounders, though, went 1-1-1 in league play against the Earthquakes.

They also needed penalty kicks to decide a U.S. Open Cup match in June with the Sounders prevailing en route to their fourth title in that competition.

With last year's playoff disappointment likely still lingering, Seattle kicked off this season in emphatic fashion with a 3-0 victory over New England on Sunday. Clint Dempsey had two goals and Obafemi Martins also scored.

"They looked great tonight. They cause so much trouble. It's insane. If we keep those two guys healthy, we give ourselves a great chance of going to MLS Cup," midfielder Brad Evans told the team's official website.

Martins had one of his franchise-record 17 goals last season in a 1-0 victory over the Earthquakes on May 17, and Seattle improved to 2-0-1 in the last three home matchups with a 1-all draw Aug. 20. The Sounders are 20-0-0 all-time when he scores.

Seattle lost 1-0 in San Jose on Aug. 2, and the Earthquakes haven't won since, going 0-9-7. A 1-0 loss at FC Dallas in last Saturday's opener gave them the second-longest winless streak in league history behind Real Salt Lake's 18-gamer in 2005-06.

Dallas' stoppage-time goal spoiled the return of coach Dominic Kinnear, who led the Earthquakes to the Supporters' Shield in 2005 before their original franchise moved to Houston. He was also an assistant on MLS Cup-winning teams in 2001 and 2003.

"It was a game of mistakes," Kinnear told the league's official website. "They made a couple, we made a couple. ... It was a little bit unfair at the end, but that's the way the game is."

The Earthquakes are expected to have four players out - forwards Mike Fucito (hip), Steven Lenhart (knee) and Mark Sherrod (knee) and defender Jordan Stewart (calf) - and defender Clarence Goodson (foot) is questionable.

Chris Wondolowski will try to make up for that depleted front line by adding to his seven goals in 13 career games against Seattle, the most versus the Sounders by one player.

The Sounders have just one missing player in midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who was slated to miss six to eight weeks when he injured his groin in early February.