Real Salt Lake vs. Seattle Sounders FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Real Salt Lake vs. Seattle Sounders FC
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 14
Rio Tinto Stadium — Sandy
June 2 – 9:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

With back-to-back wins, and three victories in their last four games, including a 1-0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC, Real Salt Lake are looking to extend their season-long winning streak against a Sounders side that has dropped consecutive games, both by 1-0 scorelines.

A week ago at CenturyLink Field, Sebastian “Bofo” Saucedo scored the game’s lone goal, his first career MLS tally, to lift the visitors.

Real Salt Lake have held Seattle scoreless in each of their last two meetings (2W). The Claret and Cobalt last held Seattle scoreless in consecutive matches from May 12 – November 2, 2012 (incl. playoffs), per Opta.

Real Salt Lake   

Mike Petke made two changes to his 4-3-3 formation from the side that beat the Sounders, with Nick Besler starting in place of Kyle Beckerman, while Luis Silva replaced Corey Baird up front.

Saucedo remained hot with a pair of assists, setting up Luis Silva’s opening goal in the 34th minute and then Beckerman’s 82nd-minute winner for Real Salt Lake, which improved to 6-6-1. It was the first time Beckerman came off the substitute’s bench since playing the final 15 minutes vs. FC Dallas on Aug. 18, 2012.

“Kyle wasn’t the easiest guy to go talk to yesterday to tell him my plan,” Petke said after the game. “I mentioned it to him a week ago and he kind of laughed it off and brushed it off, we had a joke about it, but this was the plan all along. For him to come on in that situation and not only hold down the fort a bit, but get the winning goal was amazing.”

• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty: M – Albert Rusnak
• Injury Report: OUT: D – Tony Beltran (right knee surgery), M – Jordan Allen (knee injury), GK – Alex Horwath (Achilles surgery), D – Shawn Barry (knee injury), D – Demar Phillips (ankle injury), M – Luke Mulholland (back injury); QUESTIONABLE: F – Joao Plata (quad injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Nick Rimando — Brooks Lennon, Marcelo Silva, Justen Glad, Danilo Acosta — Kyle Beckerman, Damir Kreilach, Sunny — Jefferson Savarino, Corey Baird, Sebastian Saucedo

• Notes: Baird has a duel success rate of 26.1 percent, the lowest of any player with at least 50 duels this season. … Real Salt Lake snapped a 10-match winless streak on the road with their 1-0 win at CenturyLink Field last weekend. They failed to keep a single clean sheet over those 10 matches.

Seattle Sounders FC

Brian Schmetzer made one change to the team that fell to the Portland Timbers, 1-0, on May 13, bringing on Handwalla Bwana for Gustav Svensson in an altered 4-1-4-1 shape, but the injury bug continues to bite the Sounders as Bwana came off in the 33rd minute with a right foot injury.

Seattle (2-6-2), which have scored a league-worst seven goals in their first 10 games, have been shut out in each of their six defeats as their search for answers continues.

“I challenge them, challenge the staff, challenge myself and I think that’s kind of the theme for this week,” Schmetzer said. “We’re going to unearth every stone, try and make every small detail important on and off the field.”

• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty: D – Roman Torres, M/D Gustav Svensson, M – Nicolas Lodeiro
• Injury Report: OUT: F – Jordan Morris (torn ACL), M – Osvaldo Alonso (left quad strain); QUESTIONABLE:  F – Will Bruin (left heel pain), M – Victor Rodriguez (right knee arthroscopy), M – Handwalla Bwana (right foot injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-1-4-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Frei — Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-Hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou Tolo — Jordy Delem — Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Cristian Roldan, Clint Dempsey, Alex Roldan — Will Bruin

• Notes: The Sounders enter this weekend last in MLS in goals scored (seven) and expected goals (12.69). Their -5.69 xG differential is the fourth worst in the league. … Seattle have been held scoreless seven times this season, tied for the most of any team (Philadelphia).

All-Time Series

• Overall: Real Salt Lake 10 wins, 25 goals … Seattle Sounders FC 9 wins, 27 goals … 4 ties
• At Salt Lake: Real Salt Lake 7 wins, 16 goals … Sounders FC 1 win, 7 goals … 2 ties
• Last meeting at Salt Lake: Real Salt Lake 2, Seattle Sounders FC 0 (Sept. 23, 2017)

Officials

Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistant Referees: Brian Poeschel, Jeremy Kieso
4th Official: Fotis Bazakos
VAR: Alex Chilowicz