Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara

San Jose Earthquakes v United - Match preview

Saturday 21 July 2018 13:15

Manchester United's Tour 2018, presented by Aon, is well under way and the second of five matches in the United States will pit the Reds against San Jose Earthquakes in sunny California.

Setting the scene... Juan Mata's equalising goal on Thursday night earned his side a share of the spoils as United opened the tour by drawing 1-1 with Club America in Phoenix. Jose's Mourinho's men will now face San Jose Earthquakes in Santa Clara, California. The Quakes have only won twice in the MLS this season and are rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference table. A match against the Reds may provide the squad with some fresh impetus for the rest of the season.

How can I watch? United's second tour match will kick off at 14:00 local time on Sunday afternoon (22:00 BST) and, like every pre-season game, it will be shown exclusively live on MUTV through Sky or Virgin Media in the UK and Ireland, and more widely in the MUTV app and online at MUTV.com.

United 1 Club America 1

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Juan Mata's goal ensured a share of the spoils in the Reds' opening match of Tour 2018, presented by Aon.

Who are San Jose Earthquakes? One of the founding members of the MLS in 1993, San Jose Earthquakes have won the MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003 as well as the MLS Supporters' Shield in 2005 and 2012. The club's history can be traced back to 1974, when the North American Soccer League (NASL) Earthquakes competed until the league was dissolved in 1988. The team currently play at the Avaya Stadium in Santa Clara and the 18,000-seater arena has been their current home since 2015.

Where are we playing? The venue for our second match of the tour will be the 68,000-seater Levi's Stadium. Opened in 2014, the stadium is home to the NFL's San Fransisco 49ers and hosted the Superbowl back in 2016. United are no strangers here, with the Reds beating Real Madrid on penalties in last year's International Champions Cup. Sunday's opposition currently play one MLS game a season at the stadium.

Have we met before? United have faced the San Jose Earthquakes on one previous occasion, on Tour 2015, in the first game to be played at the Avaya Stadium. Juan Mata, Memphis Depay and Andreas Pereira scored as the Reds won 3-1 in front of a sellout crowd.

Who could feature? Alexis Sanchez is set to be in the squad for Sunday's game after the Chilean was given the all-clear to fly out and join his United team-mates in the States. Meanwhile, there could be further minutes on the field for some of the squad's youngest members, after Tahith Chong and Mason Greenwood's impressive second-half contributions against Club America and a late cameo appearance by Angel Gomes. Fellow Academy players Ro-Shaun Williams, Ethan Hamilton, James Garner and Joshua Bohui were all unused substitutes on Thursday night. 

Youngsters excited by opportunities

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Joshua Bohui and Ethan Hamilton are thrilled to be working with the first-team squad over the coming weeks.

Who else are we playing on tour? After facing San Jose Earthquakes in a friendly, the Reds will play three International Champions Cup fixtures against AC Milan at the StubHub Center in California, Liverpool at the 100,000-seater Michigan Stadium and Real Madrid at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium. Of course, all of these matches will be shown live on MUTV.

'The kids are having a great experience'

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Mourinho, Mata and Robson were all impressed by the 13 Academy graduates in the squad against Club America.