San Jose Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena insisted his side still need to improve despite leading the Western Conference.

The Earthquakes thrashed Austin FC 5-1 during the week, seeing them move three points clear at the top of the West ahead of their trip to St Louis City.

No team in the conference have scored more than San Jose's 22 (level with the Vancouver Whitecaps), while only the Seattle Sounders (three), who have played two fewer games, have conceded fewer goals than the Earthquakes (four).

Despite San Jose's impressive start to the 2026 campaign, Arena believes it will not matter unless they continue their form in the second half of the season.

"We have to improve. If we don't improve, we're probably going to be a team that's scrambling to make the playoffs," said Arena.

"So the goal here is to continue to work to get better, and we need to be patient. This is not going to be [a consistent upward trend], there are going to be a few peaks and valleys along the way. We've got to be prepared for that.

"But if we continue to work hard and learn from our mistakes, I think we can be a good team for the second half of the season.

"First half of the season, at some point you get thrown out the window. It's all going to come down to the second half of the season. 

"So it's great to have a good start, but again, it's a grind. We have another 25 games left. There's a lot of soccer be played. 

"We're really pleased with the group to date. But this is a long haul. We got to be prepared for not only the good days, but some of the days that aren't so good."

St Louis, meanwhile, lost 4-1 to the Seattle Sounders last time out, ending a four-game unbeaten run across all competitions (W2 D2).

They are 14th in the West, but victory over San Jose could lift them up to 11th by the end of the weekend.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

St Louis City – Eduard Lowen

Eduard Lowen scored St Louis City's lone goal on his season debut at Seattle.

Lowen is the only player to score a goal for St. Louis in each of their four MLS regular seasons.

San Jose Earthquakes – Timo Werner

Timo Werner has scored in each of his last two MLS matches, with goals against Austin FC and Los Angeles FC.

Werner has not had a streak of three straight league games with a goal for any club since a seven-game streak in the Bundesliga for RB Leipzig in 2019.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

On Wednesday, San Jose became the third team in MLS history to win a match by four goals after trailing at half-time.

The Earthquakes had an expected goals (xG) value of 4.16 in the second half, the highest by any MLS team in a second half since Opta began tracking in 2011.

However, St Louis return home, where they have won each of their last two matches in all competitions. The team have not had a three-match winning streak at home across all competitions since doing so between May and June 2023.

St. Louis have also won all six of their meetings with San Jose, outscoring the Earthquakes by a combined score of 14-4. St. Louis have scored multiple goals in all six meetings.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

St Louis City – 36.1%

Draw – 26.2%

San Jose Earthquakes – 37.7%