Real Salt Lake will need to beat Sporting Kansas City at home on Sunday to keep its undefeated streak at Rio Tinto Stadium intact with kickoff at 4:30 am.
Salt Lake lost 2-1 to Atlanta in a midweek match and dropped into fourth place in the Western Conference table.
alt Lake have been poor defensively in recent weeks, conceding the opening goal in two of their last three games, while squandering two points in between those defeats against their biggest rivals, the Colorado Rapids (2-2). Even though the past few matches have not been great, in general, this team have had an average season so far with 30 points after 20 games.
In his first full season as head coach, Pablo Mastroeni deserves praise for how well this team has played collectively after losing Albert Rusnak to Seattle over the offseason and without Damir Kreilach who has been out with a back injury for much of 2019.
Real Salt Lake vs Kansas City Head to Head
Both sides have 34 games against each other with hosts taking 14 wins while opponents with 12 wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Atlanta United 2-1 Real Salt Lake
- Real Salt Lake 2-2 Colorado Rapids
- Minnesota 3-2 Real Salt Lake
- Real Salt Lake 0-0 Columbus Crew
Away
- Minnesota 1-1 Kansas City
- Montreal 1-2 Kansas City
- Kansas City 0-1 NY Red Bulls
- Seattle 3-0 Kansas City
Real Salt Lake Team News
Justin Meram captained RSL for the first time on Wednesday, notching an assist in a 2-1 loss to SKC. Meram tied Pablo Ruiz and Maikel Chang for most assists on the team with four this season. Johan Kappelhof scored his first career MLS goal in the defeat.
Kansas City Team News
Ozzie Cisneros is out with a hamstring injury, and Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido are both out for the season after undergoing knee surgery. Erik Thommy and William Agada are still waiting for their work visas to be approved.
Prediction and Odds
As a unit, Real Salt Lake are more consistent than KC in all facets of the game. Their backline will likely key on Johnny Russell, and they should find a way through what has been, for the most part, a leaky Kansas City back line.
- Home Win
- Goals Under 2.5
- No Score: Away
