St. Louis City interim head coach John Hackworth says they will treat San Jose Earthquakes with respect as he is wary of their fighting spirit.

St. Louis sit 13th in the Western Conference, one place above Saturday's opponents, but are 10 points better off than San Jose on 28.

Their four-match unbeaten streak came to an end last weekend, as they failed to defend their early lead in a 3-1 defeat to Minnesota United.

Hackworth is still without an away win since stepping into the hot seat, and he expects a big challenge as he attempts to change that weekend.

"[San Jose] have a lot of consistency, and I've been really impressed by their spirit," Hackworth said.

"They don't look like a team that should be last in the west right now. They have a lot of fight left in them.

"They are not a team that we can take lightly, we need to give them our full respect, but focus on us because we believe we are a much better team than our record shows."

Meanwhile, San Jose returned to MLS after the Leagues Cup with a shock win over Real Salt Lake but are winless in three since.

They snatched a late 2-2 draw against Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, and interim head coach Ian Russell is targeting a strong finish to the season.

"We always come out and plan to try and push the game," Russell said. "As a coach, I want to be on the front foot and I want to attack, but you have to understand that being pressed is part of it.

"But you also have to hurt them as well. We always want to start fast. We've never had a gameplan where we're set up to absorb pressure, that's not part of it."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

San Jose Earthquakes – Cristian Espinoza

Cristian Espinoza delivered his 11th and 12th assists of the regular season on Wednesday against Seattle Sounders.

This is Espinoza's fourth regular season with more than 10 assists for San Jose (also 2019, 2022, 2023), with no other player in team history having more than two such seasons.

St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert

Cedric Teuchert's fourth-minute goal for St. Louis on Saturday was the club’s sixth goal in the opening five minutes of matches.

The only team with more goals in the first five minutes of matches since St. Louis City joined MLS in 2023 is the Vancouver Whitecaps (seven).

MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN

St. Louis have won all three meetings with San Jose, outscoring them 7-1 over the three games. The Earthquakes are the only team St. Louis have faced more than once and won every match.

However, St. Louis are winless in 17 straight away matches in all competitions (D8 L9) dating back to the end of last season, though their last three on the road have all been drawn. They have never gone unbeaten in four straight away matches in all competitions before.

Meanwhile, San Jose came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at Seattle on Wednesday. It marked the first time the Earthquakes had earned a point from a losing position since a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Colorado Rapids in May, after losing their previous 13 regular-season matches when going behind.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

San Jose Earthquakes – 34.3%

Draw – 25.8%

St. Louis City – 39.9%