The Seattle Sounders will pay their first visit of the MLS campaign to America First Field on Saturday in search of their first regular season away victory versus Real Salt Lake since 2011.
These teams are separated by 10 points in the Western Conference table at the moment after RSL defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 last weekend, putting them in the final playoff position, while the Rave Green are tied with St Louis City for first, defeating Minnesota United 1-0 in their previous league game.
Match preview
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In eight matches this season, we have seen two sides of Claret and Cobalt, the home team who have scored six goals in two games and the road team that have lost three in a row, conceding multiple times in each of those encounters.
Five players have found the back of the net in their previous two MLS contests in Utah, but the question that Pablo Mastroeni needs to figure out is whether that kind of production is sustainable long term.
The other component that needs work is their defensive shape, with Salt Lake tied for the most goals allowed to this point of the campaign (17), without a clean sheet in 13 successive league fixtures (including the playoffs).
However, Seattle seem to bring out the best in their backline, with RSL shutting out the Rave Green in five of their last six regular-season home meetings, including last season (1-0).
RSL have managed to grab the final playoff spot in the Western Conference on back-to-back occasions, and that is where they find themselves at the moment on nine points, one point above the Portland Timbers.
Their victory over the Quakes was the first time all season that this team had scored the opening goal in a game, and they are now unbeaten in three straight regular-season encounters when going up 1-0.
It took them 120 minutes but eventually Claret and Cobalt got the job done at the US Open Cup, defeating the Las Vegas Lights 3-1 in extra-time of that third-round clash on Wednesday.
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A week after conceding four times in a 4-1 loss to the Portland Timbers, Seattle bounced back with a comfortable triumph at home to Minnesota.
In Seattle, the Sounders' backline has looked virtually impenetrable, failing to concede a single goal this season, but on the road, they have given up at least one in 13 straight regular season away outings dating back to 2022.
Brian Schmetzer has had plenty of dependable chance-creators so far this year, as eight players have set up at least one goal, but he could be missing one of their most consistent goalscorers for the foreseeable future due to an injury.
In three of their four road fixtures this year, the Sounders have given up the opening goal, while their four goals conceded in Portland was just the second time since 2020 that they had allowed that many in a regular season road game.
The Sounders have 19 points after nine domestic encounters this year, nine more than they accumulated at this same point of the previous campaign when Seattle missed the postseason for the first time in franchise history.
Seattle survived a big scare at the US Open Cup on Wednesday, conceding an equalising goal in stoppage time but managing to pull away in the extra 30 minutes, winning a thriller 5-4 versus San Diego Loyola.
Team News
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Damir Kreilach sat out of the previous MLS encounter for Salt Lake with a thigh issue but played a big part in their US Open Cup victory this week, Zack Farnsworth may need more time to recover from a thigh problem, Erik Holt is questionabable despite an Achilles issue, while Andrew Brody and Axel Kei are questionable as they are both suffering from ankle injuries.
Jefferson Savarino continues to sparkle in Claret and Cobalt colours, recording a goal and an assist versus San Jose, making him just the fifth Designated Player (DP) in club history to register 30 goals and 30 assists, doing it in 108 appearances, the second-fastest in franchise history after Joao Plata (104).
Jasper Loffelsend scored his first of the year in their previous encounter, the 39th of his career for Salt Lake, Musovski picked up his first assist since joining them from Los Angeles FC during the off-season, and Carlos Andres Gomez netted for the first time in 2023.
A brace in extra time from Kreilach and one from Danny Musovski helped them knock out Las Vegas at the US Open Cup in midweek.
Seattle could be without their prolific striker Raul Ruidiaz once again this weekend as he is struggling to recover from a right hamstring strain, as is Dylan Teves, Cristian Roldan will be questionable due to concussion protocol, Nouhou Tolo is ill, while Jacob Castro and Josh Atencio are out because of right adductor injuries.
On Tuesday, the club loaned Danny Leyva to the Colorado Rapids for the rest of 2023, receiving $92,000 (£73,762.8) in General Allocation Money (GAM) in return, along with a third-round pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft.
Former RSL midfielder Albert Rusnak had the only strike for the Rave Green in their victory at home to the Loons, his first of the campaign, while Stefan Frei picked up his fifth clean sheet of the year, moving him into a tie with Joe Willis and Roman Celentano for the most in MLS.
Fredy Montero notched a brace in their US Open Cup thriller on Wednesday with Ethan Dobbelaere, Paul Rothrock and Reed Baker-Whiting also scoring as they barely hung on to advance into the next round of that competition.
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Pierre, Glad, Silva, Oviedo; C. Gomez, Loffelsend, Ruiz, Savarino; Kreilach, Rubin
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; A. Roldan, Y. Gomez, Ragen, Arreaga; Vargas, Paulo; Rusnak, Lodeiro, Chu; Morris
We say: Real Salt Lake 1-2 Seattle Sounders
Every streak has to end at some point, and as much as the Sounders have struggled with the altitude in Utah, this is a different group than a year ago, and Schemtzer is resourceful enough to come up with a tactical approach that fits the players available.
RSL are much sharper at home than on the road, but consistency has been a problem, and we expect them to have difficulties finding openings against a well-drilled and organised Rave Green backline.
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Joel Lefevre
