Two teams towards the top of the Major League Soccer table come together on Sunday morning when Real Salt Lake host the Colorado Rapids at the Rio Tinto Stadium.
The hosts extended their lead at the top of the Western Conference thanks to a 2-0 victory last time out, while the visitors are in fourth place and four points behind the leaders.
Match preview
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Salt Lake have enjoyed an impressive season so far in MLS, extending their lead to four points at the top of the Western Conference thanks to a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders in their most recent outing.
Their recent results in the league have seen a vast improvement from how they began the year, losing two and drawing one of their opening four before going unbeaten in the following nine MLS games with six wins in that time.
A shock defeat to New Mexico United in the US Open Cup was followed by a disappointing draw with LA Galaxy as they threw away a two-goal lead, with Miguel Berry scoring a 94th-minute equaliser for the Galaxy.
A fantastic performance in their win over Seattle in midweek saw them return to their dominant best and they will now be looking to exact revenge upon Colorado Rapids, who won 2-1 in this ground in March.
Pablo Mastroeni's men should fancy themselves to achieve just that when they meet on Sunday, having been the victorious side in four of the last five meetings.
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The Rapids are also heading into this fixture having had a rather inconsistent run of results of late, winning two and drawing two of their last four matches.
Chris Armas's team started the campaign with a crushing 4-1 defeat to Phil Neville's Portland Timbers, going on to win just one of their opening five matches.
That string of results suggested that Colorado were set for another miserable season, having finished 18th in 2022 and 28th last year, but the Rapids have been much improved since then.
Five victories in the following eight matches, the same as they totalled in the entirety of the last campaign, have earned them fourth place in the Western Conference, on course for their highest finish since topping the Conference in 2021.
Armas would have been extremely disappointed with the manner of his team's 3-2 loss to bottom-placed San Jose Earthquakes last weekend, seeing the Rapids squander a 2-0 lead and lose for the first time when netting the opening goal of a game this season.
They managed to bounce back with a commanding 1-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps in midweek and will now be looking to pick up their second victory over Salt Lake this year, moving to within a point of them in the process.
Team News
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The hosts will be unable to call on the same six players who missed their 2-0 midweek victory over Seattle for this game against Colorado.
Erik Holt and Zavier Gozo are close to making their returns, while Bode Hidalgo, Marcelo Silva and Pablo Ruiz should also be back available early next month.
Kevin Bonilla suffered a cruciate ligament injury in February and is expected to be unavailable until late October.
Christian Arango leads the MLS scoring charts this year with 11 goals and will lead the line once again for Salt Lake here.
The Rapids will be without both Daniel Chacon (knee) and Kimani Stewart (groin) until early June.
Dorde Mihailovic returned from a heel injury for the previous two outings but was forced off once again in the victory over the Whitecaps, leaving him as a doubt for this one.
Top scorer Rafael Navarro has been in brilliant form for Colorado so far this year, scoring seven times in 13 appearances, including three in his last three.
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
Beavers; Quinton, Glad, Vera, Brody; Eneli, Ojeda; Gomez, Crooks, Luna; Arango
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Rosenberry, Bombito, Maxso, Vines; Larraz, Bassett; Cabral, Loffelsend, Fernandez; Navarro
We say: Real Salt Lake 2-1 Colorado Rapids
The Rapids may have been the triumphant side in the matchup between these two earlier this season but Salt Lake have since gone on to prove themselves as the top-performing side in the Western Conference, leading us to believe they will win this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
