Real Salt Lake vs. San Jose Earthquakes | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Real Salt Lake vs. San Jose Earthquakes
2018 MLS Regular Season - Week 17
Rio Tinto Stadium — Sandy
June 23 - 10 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+ MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Real Salt Lake can move as high as third in the Western Conference with their seventh win in eight home games, while the San Jose Earthquakes are seeking their first victory since May 12 after ending a four-match losing streak with a draw against the New England Revolution.

Real Salt Lake won their last game against San Jose, 4-0. The four goals were as many as they had scored in their previous five games against the Earthquakes (3L-2D), per Opta.

Real Salt Lake

A season-long three-match winning streak was snapped on June 9 when Real Salt Lake (7-7-1) fell to the LA Galaxy, 3-0, conceding three goals in the final half hour — two by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and one by Ola Kamara.

"I think our possession was good, our movement was good, playing out of the back was good,” goalkeeper Nick Rimando said after the game. “We created a lot of chances I think in the first half, got behind their defense and unlucky not to put one of those away, but I think playing away the mentality was good and the second half we could all do a little bit better. There is a lot I think that was good in that game."

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Marcelo Silva
International duty: None
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); QUESTIONABLE: M - Luke Mulholland (back injury), F - Joao Plata (back injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Nick Rimando — Brooks Lennon, Marcelo Silva, Justen Glad, Danilo Acosta — Damir Kreilach, Kyle Beckerman — Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnak, Sebastian Saucedo — Corey Baird

Notes: Kyle Beckerman has scored four goals against San Jose since the start of 2006, tied for his most against any MLS foe. … Since losing 5-1 at home to LAFC on March 10, Real Salt Lake have won six straight games while conceding just four goals.

San Jose Earthquakes

Danny Hoesen scored the game’s first goal and its last as San Jose (2-9-4) rallied to tie the New England Revolution, 2-2, at Avaya Stadium in their final game before the World Cup break. The draw comes on the heels of four consecutive losses for the Quakes, who are winless in their last six.

“Even though we are struggling at the moment, we have to take all the positive things now and try to make it even better,” San Jose coach Mikael Stahre said. “We are creating chances for the moment, and our strikers Danny and Wondo [Chris Wondolowski] score goals. That is really important. We create more chances. We provoke the opponent more. We have a little bit more direct approach than in the beginning of the season.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Anibal Godoy
International duty: M - Anibal Godoy, D - Harold Cummings
Injury Report: OUT: D - Shea Salinas; QUESTIONABLE: D - Joel Qwiberg (knee injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Andrew Tarbell — Nick Lima, Yefferson Quintana, Jimmy Ockford, Francois Affolter — Magnus Eriksson, Florian Jungwirth, Tommy Thompson, Vako — Danny Hoesen, Chris Wondolowski

Notes: Magnus Eriksson has five games this season with 4+ chances created. Since 2010, only two San Jose players have had more such games in a single season (Matías Pérez García – six in 2015 and Jahmir Hyka – six in 2017). … San Jose have conceded 31 goals this season – tied for the most in the league – and are the only team yet to keep a clean sheet.

All-Time Series

Overall: Real Salt Lake 10 wins, 43 goals … San Jose Earthquakes 10 wins, 37 goals … 9 draws
At Salt Lake: Real Salt Lake 5 wins, 23 goals … Earthquakes 3 wins, 11 goals … 6 draws
Last meeting at Salt Lake: Real Salt Lake 4, San Jose Earthquakes 0 (Aug. 23, 2017)