Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Major League Soccer clash between Real Salt Lake and San Jose Earthquakes, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two teams who have enjoyed vastly different Major League Soccer campaigns face off at America First Field on Sunday as Real Salt Lake play host to San Jose Earthquakes.
The home side currently sit third in the Western Conference of the MLS table heading into this weekend’s encounter, while their visitors remain rock-bottom in the standings.
Match preview
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Real Salt Lake have seen their season hit a bump in the road of late, but it has been a decent showing overall for the Utah-based outfit to date nonetheless.
A 2-0 defeat to Houston Dynamo in their final Leagues Cup group-stage outing saw Pablo Mastroeni‘s men beaten for the third time in five matches, picking up just one win in that time.
That drop in form has seen the Claret-and-Cobalt yield top spot in the Western Conference to Los Angeles Galaxy, albeit with a game in hand to potentially cut down a five-point deficit.
With just nine games left to play in the regular season, Real Salt Lake now go in search of a strong end to the campaign before heading to the playoffs for the second straight year.
Sunday’s hosts will fancy their chances of improving upon their round-of-16 exit to Houston last time out having scored the most goals in the division this term.
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Despite losing three straight matches prior to the start of the Leagues Cup, San Jose Earthquakes managed to make it through to the last 16, where they were defeated by Los Angeles Galaxy.
Ian Russell‘s men racked up eight goals during their cup journey, which should inspire confidence in a team that scored just twice across their most recent six league matches.
Currently sitting a whopping 19 points shy of playoff contention, the Goonies are all but out of the running for a place in the postseason but will be keen to string together a decent run of results to help set the tone for next season.
Having let in the most away goals in the MLS this term, a tough assignment on the road awaits this weekend’s visitors, who have also lost the most games on enemy territory this term.
Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer form:
Real Salt Lake form (all competitions):
San Jose Earthquakes Major League Soccer form:
San Jose Earthquakes form (all competitions):
Team News
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Jose Bonilla and Pablo Ruiz both continue to nurse knee injuries and will not play any part for Real Salt Lake in this weekend’s contest.
Marcelo Silva recently made his return to action from a hamstring problem but is expected to be gradually eased back into the team and should miss out on a place in the XI here.
Forward Cristian Arango currently leads the way in the race for the Golden Boot and will be looking to deliver the goods for the home side once again.
San Jose’s JT Marcinkowski is out of contention here due to a knee injury, which has seen him fail to feature since the early exchanges of last season.
Carlos Akapo and Bruno Wilson also miss out for the visitors through injury, but 24-year-old Daniel Munie is back available for selection after recovering from a head injury.
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Katranis, Ramirez, Hidalgo, Brody; Ojeda, Eneli; Luka, Crooks, Gomez; Arango
San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Yarbrough; Costa, Rodrigues, Munie, Kikanovic; Gruezo, Yueill; Pellegrino, Lopez, Espinoza; Ebobisse
We say: Real Salt Lake 3-1 San Jose Earthquakes
Real Salt Lake boast the superior squad and are huge favourites to get the job done in front of their fans.
We can see the home side rising up to expectations with a dominant display to claim maximum points at the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.