Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Major League Soccer clash between Real Salt Lake and Austin FC, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Real Salt Lake will set out to pick up a first league victory in three matches when they welcome Austin FC to America First Field on Sunday.
The away side, meanwhile, make the trip to Utah aiming to get back to winning ways having seen their three-game unbeaten run come to an end last time out.
Match preview
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Real Salt Lake had to make do with a point for the second straight match following a 1-1 stalemate against Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field on Thursday.
Pablo Mastroeni‘s men fell behind to Albert Rusnak‘s opener midway through the second half before Andres Gomez restored parity in stoppage time.
As a result, The Claret and Cobalt remain top of the Western Conference of the MLS table but now lead Los Angeles Galaxy by just two points.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little to choose between the teams over the previous seven meetings which have yielded three wins apiece and one draw.
Unbeaten in nine of their last 10 matches on home turf, Sunday’s hosts have been a real force to reckon with in front of their fans and will be confident of getting the job done here.
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Austin FC were on the receiving end of a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Portland Timbers at the Q2 Stadium in Texas on Thursday morning.
After missing a golden chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot, Josh Wolff‘s men went into the interval trailing to Evander‘s strike before Jonathan Rodriguez sealed the deal 20 minutes into the second period.
With 23 points picked up from 16 matches so far, Los Verdes sit fifth in the Western Conference standings, four places and seven points shy of their next opponents.
Having come out on top in just one of their last seven matches on the road, Sunday’s visitors head into this weekend’s clash seeking to turn their away fortunes around.
Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer form:
Austin FC Major League Soccer form:
Team News
Twenty-eight-year-old Jon Gallagher remains out of contention for Austin FC having missed the last two matches with an adductor problem.
Daniel Pereira was shown his fourth yellow card of the season last time out and is currently walking a suspension tightrope for the away side.
Real Salt Lake’s Kevin Bonilla and Pablo Ruiz are both sidelined with knee injuries, while Erik Holt and Marcelo Silva miss out through hamstring issues.
English midfielder Matt Crooks will serve a one-game ban this weekend which could see Cristian Arango return to the hosts’ starting lineup.
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
Beavers; Oviedo, Ramirez, Glad, Quinton; Palacio, Eneli; Luna, Arango, Gomez; Santos
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Jimenez, Vaisanen, Hines-Ike, Guilherme; Pereira, Jimenez; Obrian, Driussi, Wolff; Zardes
We say: Real Salt Lake 3-1 Austin FC
Real Salt Lake have scored the most goals in the division so far and will back themselves to enjoy another field day in front of goal here. We are tipping the home side to run out comfortable winners at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.