St Louis City get their 2024 Major League Soccer campaign underway with a meeting against Real Salt Lake at the City Park on Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, the away side will be looking to get their league campaign up and running off the back of a defeat in their opening fixture last time out.
Match preview
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Real Salt Lake were on the receiving end of a well-deserved 2-0 defeat against Inter Miami in Thursday morning's encounter at the Chase Stadium.
Pablo Mastroeni's men fell behind to Robert Taylor's opener six minutes shy of half time before Diego Gomez sealed the deal seven minutes from time.
Consequently, the Claret and Cobalt sit bottom of the Western Conference of the MLS table heading into the second round of matches this weekend.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little to choose between the teams from the previous two meetings which have yielded one win apiece.
Having failed to win any of their five away outings either side of the new year, Sunday's visitors have work to do at both ends of the pitch if they are to emerge victorious here.
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St Louis City kicked off their CONCACAF Champions Cup knockout journey with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Houston Dynamo on Wednesday morning.
Bradley Carnell's men took the lead just past the hour mark through Tim Parker but conceded a 72nd-minute leveller to Sebastian Kowalczyk before Hosei Kijima grabbed a late winner.
Since crashing out of last season's playoffs, the Missouri-based side are now unbeaten in five of their subsequent six matches heading into their MLS curtain-raiser
Ahead of the conclusion of their CONCACAF tie against Houston Dynamo three days later, Sunday's hosts go in search of a morale-boosting win this weekend.
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Team News
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Jose Bonilla is ruled out for Real Salt Lake with a long-term knee injury, while midfielder Matt Crooks continues to nurse a muscle problem.
The away side will also be without the services of Alexandros Katranis, who still awaits his debut for his new employers following his move from Piast Gliwice.
Rasmus Alm is yet to feature for St Louis since the first week of September, and he remains a major injury doubt for this weekend's contest.
Twenty-two-year-old Hosei Kijima could be rewarded with a place in the hosts' starting XI having found the back of the net as a substitute last time out.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Durkin, Markanich, Totland, Yaro; Ostrak, Vassilev, Jackson, Parker; Adeniran, Klauss
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Brody, Ramirez, Glad, Eneli; Palacio, Ojeda; Gomez, Ruiz, Luna; Arango
We say: St Louis City 2-2 Real Salt Lake
The previous two meetings between Sunday's opponents have yielded a combined eight goals, and we expect another entertaining affair here. That said, we are also backing a share of the spoils with honours even at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
