LAFC, Earthquakes clash in Western Conference showdown

Goals will be at a premium when two of the top teams in the Western Conference meet Sunday as Los Angeles FC plays host to the San Jose Earthquakes.

Each team allowed just two goals through seven league games to lead MLS. They are also two of four teams in the league with a positive goal differential in double digits.

LAFC (5-1-1, 16 points) will be out to protect a perfect 4-0-0 home record in league play during a busy early part of the season.

In two home games during the first seven days of April, LAFC earned a 6-0 MLS victory over Orlando City and a 3-0 victory over Mexico's Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions Cup play. The club absorbed its only MLS loss, 2-1 on the road against the Portland Timbers, on April 11, then went to Mexico on Tuesday and advanced against Cruz Azul with a 1-1 road tie.

While Denis Bouanga leads LAFC with four goals and eight goal contributions in MLS play, 20-year-old forward David Martinez of Venezuela has six goals across all competitions and scored twice in the first leg against Cruz Azul.

"If you guys would see training, for me it's normal," LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos said of Martinez's play. "... When he has space in front of him, he goes and it's fantastic to watch. He has this quality. David is strong. He seems little, but he's really strong when he has courage behind him."

Mired in mediocrity after not delivering a winning season in any of the previous 13 seasons, the Earthquakes (6-1-0, 18 points) have been reborn in just the second season under head coach Bruce Arena.

The Earthquakes are on a four-game winning streak across all competitions and are coming off a 2-0 victory over Phoenix Rising FC on Wednesday in U.S. Open Cup play. The 7-1-0 start across all competitions is the best in club history.

"We're going to utilize our (full) roster this week," Arena said. "If we have any aspirations of being a good team, it's critically important that we can show that we can have depth and we can rotate our squad when it's called upon."

San Jose also scored three goals in each of its last two MLS games, earning a road victory over Sporting Kansas City and a home shutout win over San Diego FC on April 4.

Jack Skhan scored a pair of goals against Sporting KC, and Niko Tsakiris scored two against San Diego FC. Preston Judd leads the Earthquakes with three goals on the season, while Tsakiris has four assists.

--Field Level Media