Two teams languishing near the foot of their conference will face off this weekend when Real Salt Lake play host to St Louis City at America First Field Sandy in Major League Soccer.

The Claret and Cobalt are 13th in the West after managing 19 points from 19 games, while the visitors sit just below them, four points adrift.

Match preview

The 2025 Major League Soccer campaign has been a bruising one for Salt Lake, who are on course to miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2020, currently trailing the wild-card spot by seven points, albeit with a game in hand.

After finishing third in the Western Conference last term, only to fall to Minnesota United in the Round One Best-of-3 Series, Pablo Mastroeni’s side would have entered the new season with higher ambitions.

However, inconsistency has plagued their journey, with just five victories to their name and a persistent inability to string wins together, as seen once more in their latest outing at Sporting Kansas City. 

The trip to Children’s Mercy Park came on the back of a morale-boosting 2-0 triumph over DC United that snapped a seven-game winless streak, and RSL carried that renewed optimism into the clash, drawing first blood just before the break but were unable to hold on, eventually forced to settle for a draw.

With just 19 goals from as many matches, Salt Lake’s struggles in the final third have been evident, as they are the joint-worst attacking side in the conference and have failed to score in eight of those games.

Mastroeni’s men have conceded 26 times so far, but they have recorded four clean sheets — all coming at America First Field — which also accounts for all the matches in which they have picked up points at home, with three wins and one draw from eight, meaning a solid defensive display will once again be key to any success this weekend.

St Louis, on the other hand, extended their miserable run with a 1-0 defeat away to Houston Dynamo, marking their fourth successive match without a win.

It has been a sharp decline for the Missouri-based club, who shocked many by finishing top of the Western Conference in their inaugural 2023 campaign but stumbled to 12th last term, and things appear to be spiralling further this time around.

They had opened the current season with back-to-back goalless draws, followed by consecutive victories and clean sheets, raising early hopes of a revival, but the tide soon turned as St Louis went 11 league games without a single win — a torrid run that cost Olof Mellberg his job. 

David Critchley briefly injected life into the side by guiding the team to a 2-0 triumph over San Jose Earthquakes in his first game as interim boss, but that spark has since faded with only one point collected from the following four matches, including last weekend’s setback in Houston.

The defeat also extended their away woes, with St Louis now winless in their last eight league trips, losing each of the most recent five, so even a draw this weekend would be considered a positive result — especially given they were beaten 3-1 on their last visit to America First.

As it stands, Critchley’s men have lost two of their four MLS meetings against Salt Lake (W1, D1), although their only win came in one of their two visits, when they ran out 4-0 victors in 2023.

Real Salt Lake MLS form:

St Louis City MLS form:

Team News

Johnny Russell found the net in last weekend’s draw at Kansas, his second goal in five league matches, and the experienced winger should retain his place on the right flank this weekend.

Diogo Goncalves is expected to continue on the left of attack, with Zavier Gozo playing just off William Agada, who leads the line in the number nine role.

In terms of injuries, Zac MacMath (shoulder/back), Javain Brown (unknown), Emeka Eneli (foot) and Matthew Bell are all set to miss out for Salt Lake. 

The hosts will also be without top scorer Diego Luna once more, as the forward remains with the United States national team, who have progressed to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

The visitors, meanwhile, saw Jake Girdwood-Reich and Alfredo Morales forced off in the defeat to Houston, leaving their availability for this weekend uncertain.

They join a growing injury list that includes winger Rasmus Alm, who has been out virtually the entire season due to a hip problem, and Joakim Nilsson, who is still recovering from a knee issue.

Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:

Cabral; Caliskan, Glad, Junqua, Katranis; Palacio, Ruiz; Goncalves, Gozo, Russell; Agada

St Louis City possible starting lineup:

Burki; Totland, Hiebert, Reid, Watts; Wallem, Hartel; Pompeu, Ostrak, Becher; Klauss

We say: Real Salt Lake 2-0 St Louis City

Salt Lake have scored exactly two goals in each of their three home wins this season, all of which have come with clean sheets, and with St Louis conceding at least twice in five of their last eight away matches — drawing blanks in five of those too — the trend looks likely to continue.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Adeyeye Oluwapelumi

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