Bruce Arena urged his San Jose Earthquakes team to "hang in there" before the MLS pauses for the World Cup, amid a hectic fixture schedule over the past few weeks.

San Jose played out a 1-1 draw with fellow Western Conference high-flyers Vancouver Whitecaps last time out, as Sebastian Berhalter cancelled out Preston Judd's early penalty.

The stalemate at PayPal Park was the Earthquakes' eighth game in 28 days, with three more matches to come before the MLS takes a break until July because of the World Cup.

Arena's side travel to Lumen Field to take on the Seattle Sounders next, and the San Jose boss urged his injury-hit squad to battle through the pain barrier just a little longer.

"There are a lot of games left to play. We, like a lot of teams, have periods of time when you have injuries, or you're not playing well, and it's going to be part of it," Arena said.

"Nobody sails right through the season. So right now, we're in a little bit of a tough space with a couple of injuries and those types of things. We just have to hang in there.

"We have to look at that and maybe make a few other adjustments to try to close out the month, and then we'll have plenty of time to get ready when the schedule resumes."

Seattle, meanwhile, left it late to steal a draw against San Diego FC, with Danny Musovski popping up with an 80th-minute leveller to cancel out Marcus Ingvartsen's opener.

That result saw the Sounders draw back-to-back MLS games for the first time this season, leaving them fifth in the Western Conference after 10 games of their campaign.

But Seattle boss Brian Schmetzer was left to rue a glut of missed opportunities against San Diego, with his team firing off 26 shots worth an expected goals (xG) value of 2.53.

"I thought we created a lot of chances against Sporting KC and came up short," he said. "Again, we dropped points, even though our home form has been pretty good as of late.

"We had a positive second half but, again, it feels like we have come up short and dropped points at home. Don't get me wrong, San Diego are a very good team.

"But I am a little irritated with the goal we gave up. We have to reconnect there. Keeping a clean sheet is one of our objectives, but we were unable to do that here."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Seattle Sounders – Danny Musovski

After scoring twice in the Champions Cup against Vancouver and Tigres, Musovski came off the bench to rescue a point and net his first league goal of the season. 

And you would fancy him to score again here, given he has found the back of the net five times against San Jose in 11 league appearances, the joint-most he has managed against an MLS opponent (also the Los Angeles Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City). 

SJ Earthquakes – Preston Judd

Judd's early goal against San Diego was his team-leading eighth of the season (a new career-high total) and 19th career goal in league play.

It was also his fifth goal in his last four matches, and he will be keen to add to that tally here. 

MATCH PREDICTION: SEATTLE SOUNDERS WIN

Seattle are unbeaten in their last four MLS matches against San Jose (W2 D2), with the Sounders also inflicting the Earthquakes' only defeat of the season following a 1-0 triumph at PayPal Park on March 14. 

The Sounders have also avoided defeat against San Jose at Lumen Field since June 2023, with Jeremy Ebobisse's 48th-minute strike earning the Earthquakes a 1-0 victory. 

But both teams have been solid at home and on the road. Seattle are unbeaten in their four league matches on home soil in 2026, while they last tasted defeat in all competitions at Lumen Field against Paris Saint-Germain at the Club World Cup last June. 

San Jose, meanwhile, are out to extend a six-match unbeaten streak on their travels. They have not been beaten in an MLS away game since October 2025 against Vancouver.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Seattle Sounders – 58.9%

Draw – 21.4%

SJ Earthquakes – 19.7%