Cristian Arango believes San Jose Earthquakes have the quality to trouble Seattle Sounders, if they can turn their chances into goals in MLS.

The 'Quakes started the season brightly, winning their first two matches under Bruce Arena, but have since trailed off, losing their last three.

They have scored just twice across those three defeats and sit 10th in the Western Conference, but Arango is confident that if they continue playing the way they have been, the goals will come.

"I believe we have created chances. In the first two matches, we finished a lot of our chances, but the last two, we haven't been able to do so," he said.

"I feel the keepers have had something to do with that - they've been outstanding - but we will continue to work on that and our finishing in the final third.

"We have to translate it into team success, and we've been working on changing our mentality for that going forward."

Seattle, meanwhile, sit two places and one point below their opponents, having won just once so far this season.

They beat Los Angeles FC 5-2 on March 8 but have scored just two goals in the other four games this term combined.

Having failed to win any of their last three matches in all competitions, Stefan Frei says the Sounders have to be gritty to get a result against San Jose.

"They have a lot of players that if you forget about them, all they need is a sniff," he said.

"They have guys capable of changing the game in a moment, and we need to be aware of that.

"We have to make it difficult for them. We have to make them earn every step, every inch and every chance."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

San Jose Earthquakes – Cristian Espinoza

Cristian Espinoza has six goals and six assists against the Sounders in his MLS career.

He is the only player to record at least six goals and six assists against Seattle since the Sounders joined MLS in 2009.

Seattle Sounders – Albert Rusnak

Seattle have eight goal contributions from substitutes this season, the most in MLS.

They lead the league in both goals (three) and assists (assists) from substitutes this year, as Rusnak's three goal contributions off the bench (one goal, two assists) are the most by any player in the league.

MATCH PREDICTION:  SEATTLE SOUNDERS WIN

San Jose are unbeaten in seven straight matches against Seattle in all competitions (W4 D3); it is their longest unbeaten run against Seattle in the 45 meetings in all competitions since the Sounders joined MLS in 2009.

However, Seattle are expected to end that run on Saturday, as San Jose have lost three consecutive matches after opening the season with back-to-back wins. Only two teams in the post-shootout era (since 2000) have won their first two games of a season and followed that with four straight defeats: D.C. United in 2022 and Inter Miami in 2023.

Seattle have five points through five matches this season, the sixth time in club history that they have had five or fewer points at this stage of a season. The Sounders went on to make the playoffs each of the previous five times they had five or fewer points through five games.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

San Jose Earthquakes – 24.2%

Draw – 22.8%

Seattle Sounders – 53%