The basics

San Jose Earthquakes (5W-1D-2L, 16 points, tied for 2nd in Western Conference) vs. Toronto FC (4W-1D-4L, 13 points, 3rd in Eastern Conference) at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

All-time record: The teams are split evenly, 1W-2D-1L

Click here for Broadcast Info

What’s at stake?

It’s a battle between two of the MLS’ hottest teams: San Jose are unbeaten in their last four matches – all shutouts – and are 5-1-1 since a season-opening loss to Real Salt Lake. Toronto are unbeaten in three MLS matches and five overall, including a win and a tie in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, which was good enough to clinch a second consecutive title with a game still in hand.

Last meeting

At BMO Field last October, Toronto gave up their 15th goal of the season (through 28 matches) in the 75th minute or later. This one was a Cornell Glen strike in the third minute of second-half injury time to force a 1-1 tie. The score by Glen, who had been coming back off a month-long layoff due to a partially torn knee ligament, negated Nana Attakora’s 47th-minute strike.

Heroes and villains

Julian de Guzman vs. Bobby Convey: De Guzman became TFC’s first designated player during the offseason, and when he started slowly – including a bad gaffe (jumping early while in the wall against a free kick) that led to a game-winning goal for Colorado last month – he was hit with heavy criticism. The Toronto native rebounded, only to miss the last two games with a hamstring strain. He expects to return to the Toronto lineup. Convey can probably empathize with de Guzman – after coming back from England and failing to make an impact in 2009, he has become arguably the Quakes’ most important player, delivering top-flight service from the left wing and providing critical support to left back Ramiro Corrales in the defensive third.

Nana Attakora vs. Chris Wondolowski: Did we mention yet that Toronto is getting healthy again? Attakora is expected back after missing last week’s win over New England due to a tight hip flexor, and fellow defender Ty Harden, sidelined with a serious cut suffered April 28 in NCC play, is also back doing full training. As for Wondolowski, he’s scored in five of six appearances, and is tied for third in the league. If that’s not enough motivation for Attakora to stop him from getting No. 6, there’s the added fact that the man in second position being chased by Wondolowski is none other than Toronto’s own Dwayne De Rosario, who is making a return as well – although this one is from national-team duty with Canada.

Stat that makes you go, “Hmm”

Thanks to a career-best performance the last time Toronto traveled to the Bay Area, Chad Barrett has half of the franchise’s total scoring output against San Jose. The San Diego native tallied twice in a 3-1 win at San Jose last July, and notched an assist on the other goal. Toronto have scored four times all told in four games against the Quakes.

He said it

“As long as we have this as a starting point, that we’ve proven we can grind out wins, now maybe we can learn how to kill a game off a little bit more professionally.” – Chris Leitch, on the Quakes' tendency to drop a little too heavily into their defensive shell once they get a lead.