- San Jose are 3rd in MLS 2026 with 32 points from 15 games, Orlando City are 25th with 14 points from 15.
- San Jose have won four, drawn one and lost two of their seven home MLS 2026 games, scoring 16 goals.
- Orlando City have won one, drawn one and lost six of their MLS 2026 away games, conceding 31 goals (3.88 per game on average).
Lions are struggling
Orlando City SC will be the outsiders for Thursday's clash with San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park, USA, but there is a big jump in odds for this one with San Jose the 13/25 favourites and the visitors 461/100 and the draw 207/50.
Bruce Arena's San Jose squad have been in a high-intensity groove since he took over in January 2025. Their pressing style is relentless and they try to get forward quickly after turnovers, but they have been erratic lately.
The Quakes have won just one of their last five (W1 D1 L3), including a 2-3 home defeat to FC Dallas, a 2-0 USOC defeat to Colorado and a 3-1 away win over Portland.
Ojeda can be an Orlando game-changer
The Lions have been lousy this year, but Martin Perelman has done a decent job since taking over in March 2026, keeping a pragmatic 4-2-3-1 shape and only pressing in selected areas.
They arrive off a 4-0 USOC win over Atlanta United, but that was followed by a 6-2 defeat in an away MLS game against FC Cincinnati that shows how much progress they still have to make.
So this game is a clash of intensity vs structure and there is some merit in the long odds for Orlando to avoid defeat. But San Jose are a better side, have more goals in their players and have the home advantage so we have to take the hosts to edge it.
Back the draw for a wager on goals
But Orlando have talisman Martin Ojeda to challenge San Jose, who are looking to Preston Judd for their goals. The two are on the same goals tally in MLS 2026 with 11 each and could both be involved here.
San Jose should win, but Orlando have enough attacking quality to keep this from becoming a walkover so we are taking Over 2.5 goals at 13/50 as a strong alternative.
San Jose are much the better team in MLS 2026, but the odds make San Jose the clear favorite, while the visitors hold the head-to-head edge, who won the last game between the sides 1-0 away in MLS 2024.
