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• Seattle Sounders v San Jose Earthquakes: Hosts chasing post-season berth at Lumen Field

  Seattle Sounders will hope to make the most of their home advantage when they host San Jose Earthquakes, as Brian Schmetzer's side aim to further their MLS playoffs bid.

  The Sounders are fifth in the Western Conference standings after their 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City last time out.

  Schmetzer's men are nine points adrift of West leaders LA Galaxy heading into this clash at Lumen Field, where the Sounders hope to improve further in their post-season chase.

  "[We have] to keep the momentum going, but one game at a time," said centre-back Jackson Ragen. "Keep winning, and then keep that going in the playoffs.

  "This is the home stretch, and every game is huge, because it's going to come down to our position in the playoffs."

  Midfielder Paul Rothrock echoed a similar sentiment, adding: "We have threats from a lot of different areas, and that's what's brought success this season.

  "I think having a lot of weapons going into the postseason is going to be crucial and also having a locker room full of guys that are pushing together."

  San Jose have endured a tough season to date, sitting bottom of the Sounders' division, but the visitors did defeat Seattle 3-2 in the reverse meeting this campaign.

  They are the only team out of playoff contention already, owing to a woeful term, with Ian Russell's men only winning five games all season.

  Russell will be desperate the tide turns on the road in Seattle on Thursday.

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Seattle Sounders – Raul Ruidiaz

  The Earthquakes must be wary of Raul Ruidiaz, given he has scored nine career regular-season goals against San Jose, having only managed more against the Timbers (10).

  Only three players (Jeff Cunningham and Preki – 11, Paul Bravo – 10) have scored more goals against the Earthquakes in MLS history, with Ruidiaz dangerously close to reaching those heights here.

  San Jose Earthquakes – Cristian Espinoza

  Seattle may be quaking in their booths thinking of San Jose's Cristian Espinoza, who has been involved in eight goals (five goals, three assists) in five matches against the Sounders since the start of the 2022 season.

  The only player to record more goal contributions against a single opponent in that time is Espinoza himself against Los Angeles FC (nine), and the Earthquakes star will fancy carrying that run on here.

  MATCH PREDICTION – SEATTLE SOUNDERS WIN

  The Sounders are the overriding favourites for this clash, given their strong recent head-to-head record and San Jose's drab form.

  Seattle have won six of their last seven regular season home matches (L1), including the aforementioned win over SKC on Sunday.

  The Sounders had managed just four wins in their previous 19 home league matches (D10 L5) dating back to May 2023, but have since turned a corner – and things may continue to improve here.

  San Jose's defeat at Vancouver on Saturday was their 21st loss in 28 matches in the 2024 regular season. Another reverse would equal the second-most losses in a single season in the post-shootout era (since 2000) as only D.C. United (24 losses) in 2013 lost more than 22 times in a season.

  Yet not all visiting hope is lost, considering San Jose have won three straight matches against Seattle for the second time (also in 2012—13). Overall, The Earthquakes are unbeaten in four straight visits to Seattle in all competitions (W2 D2).

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Seattle Sounders win – 68.5%

  Draw – 17.5%

  San Jose Earthquakes win – 14%

• Young Boys 0-3 Aston Villa: Emery's men make flying Champions League start

  Aston Villa made a fine return to Europe's elite as they began their Champions League campaign with an accomplished 3-0 victory over Swiss club Young Boys on Tuesday.

  Villa, European Cup winners in 1982 and playing in UEFA's premier club competition for the first time since 1983, had to survive some early pressure but were good value for their victory once they made the breakthrough.

  Youri Tielemans fired Villa in front in the 27th minute after being picked out by John McGinn's deep cross, and Unai Emery's men never looked back from there.

  They doubled their advantage 11 minutes later, Mohamed Ali Camara's terrible back pass selling Young Boys goalkeeper David von Ballmoos short and allowing Jacob Ramsey to tap home.

  The visitors had goals by Ollie Watkins and substitute Jhon Duran disallowed for handball either side of half-time, but Amadou Onana put the icing on the cake four minutes from time, drilling a superb effort into the bottom-left corner from 25 yards out.

  The one concern for the visitors was the sight of star forward Watkins receiving treatment on his ankle following his 60th-minute withdrawal, just four days out from a Premier League derby against Midlands rivals Wolves.

  Villa will face sterner Champions League tests in the coming months, with Bayern Munich visiting Villa Park on matchday two and Juventus, RB Leipzig and Monaco also lying in wait.

  Data Debrief: Impressive introduction for Rogers

  Tielemans, Ramsey and Onana may have scored the goals, but Villa's star of the show was Morgan Rogers, who laid on four chances for his team-mates.

  Not only was that the most of any player on the pitch, ahead of Watkins and Young Boys forward Filip Ugrinic (three each), but it is also the most by any Englishman on their Champions League debut since Marc Albrighton for Leicester City in 2016 (four versus Club Brugge).

  Villa became the 11th different English side to play in the Champions League since it was rebranded in 1992, but just the fourth to win their first match.

  Manchester United (4-2 versus IFK Goteborg in 1994), Newcastle United (3-2 against Barcelona in 1997) and Leicester (3-0 versus Brugge in 2016) also did so. 

• Hingst wants Ballon d'Or to move away from 'superstar' preference after Putellas nomination

  World Cup winner Ariane Hingst believes the Ballon d'Or Feminin must reconsider who merits the global award in order to do "justice to the great football players".

  Former Germany international Hingst, speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, could not fathom the reasoning behind including the likes of injury-hit Alexia Putellas as a nominee.

  The 30-player list was announced at the start of September, with the winner revealed later in October, as Aitana Bonmati heads to the award ceremony in Paris as the favourite.

  Spain's Nations League success saw five of their players nominated, including Bonmati, while the United States women's national team also had as many nominees after their Olympic success in the French capital.

  Hingst, winner of FIFA's top international competition in 2003 and 2007, believes the Ballon d'Or needs to look further than "superstars", however.

  "It's always interesting to see the nominees of these Ballon d'Ors," Hingst said to Stats Perform. "I think the problem is that you only have the big picture when you have a big tournament going on. 

  "We had the Olympics, but you see all kinds of sports, so you can't just follow the football, so it's hard to follow.

  "What frustrates me the most is, and don't get me wrong, the likes of Alexia Putellas, [she is] a great, great player, but she's been injured for such a long time and is on the list to be the best of this season.

  "This can't be right and I don't think that it does justice to the great football players we have out there if Putellas is on this list as well.

  "We need to get away from the superstars and just recognise the season that has been played."

  Though wanting to stray away from the "superstar" tag for Ballon d'Or selection, Hingst reserved special praise for Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr.

  "The interesting part is, that I always had a problem with just this one big superstar because soccer is a team sport and it took me some time to realise that you need those superstars," Hingst added.

  "Definitely, Sam Kerr is one of them. It took some time for us in Germany to recognise her as much. She became really big when she was in America, an absolute superstar.

  "Now then going to England and it's just tremendous. You need those figures because they are idols. Girls are talking about, 'I want to be Sam Kerr', the boys are talking about her, so you need those big names.

  "For example, now you have Alex Morgan just retiring from the women's game. She was one of those superstars as well. [Megan] Rapinoe from America also retired. So who's the next?"