Los Angeles Football Club vs. Real Salt Lake | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

LAFC vs. Real Salt Lake
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 25
Banc of California Stadium — Los Angeles
August 15 - 10 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN2, TSN2

Two teams desperate to stay above the playoff line in the Western Conference meet in the midweek with Los Angeles Football Club hosting Real Salt Lake at Banc of California Stadium.

LAFC are officially slumping, without a win in their last five league games and with three straight losses in all competitions following a 2-0 defeat to Sporting Kansas City, their first loss at Banc of California Stadium.

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, have won just once in their last five games with three draws — including a 1-1 tie against the Montreal Impact at home.

LAFC handed RSL their lone loss of the season at Rio Tinto Stadium with a decisive 5-1 victory back in March.

Los Angeles Football Club

LAFC (10-7-6) suffered a second straight loss and third defeat in four games in league play, dropping a 2-0 decision to Sporting Kansas City at home Saturday night.

Gerso Fernandes took a pass from Diego Rubio and fired inside the far post to open the scoring in the 17th minute and Ilie Sanchez doubled the advantage from the penalty spot in the 66th minute after Dejan Jakovic fouled Felipe Gutierrez.

“Obviously tough week,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “We had a lot to play for and at the end, we don’t come out with anything so that part we’ve got to deal with and move on from. … Most of all, it’s been a difficult stretch. Now we just have to take it and work to get better with important games coming up.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Walker Zimmerman
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Quillan Roberts (right fibular fracture), M - Mark-Anthony Kaye (fractured ankle); QUESTIONABLE: F - Adama Diomande (left hamstring irritation)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Tyler Miller — Steven Beitashour, Walker Zimmerman, Laurent Ciman, Jordan Harvey — Benny Feilhaber, Lee Nguyen — Diego Rossi, Carlos Vela, Latif Blessing — Christian Ramirez

Notes: Over LAFC’s last five games, they have scored 3.24 goals below their xG total. In their 18 games this year, they had scored 4.07 goals above their xG total. … Last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Sporting Kansas City was the first MLS home loss in LAFC’s history. It also extended their franchise-worst five-game winless run, in which they’ve been outscored 11-4.

Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake (10-9-5) squandered a chance to move up in the West table, settling for a 1-1 draw with the Montreal Impact Saturday at home.

After being taken down in the box by Ken Krolicki, Joao Plata converted from the penalty spot to put Real Salt Lake in front in the 26th minute. The score remained that way until Jukka Raitala leveled with a screamer in the 55th minute.

“Any points we can get out of that game – it’s going to be an extremely tough game, it’s a very stacked roster, good personnel from player to player, it’s going to be an extremely difficult game for us,” RSL head coach Mike Petke said of facing LAFC. “There is no revenge factor, it’s a completely different time of the season, a different venue. It’s going to be tough but we are already planning for that.”

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 surgery), GK - Alex Horwath (Achilles surgery), M - Luke Mulholland (back injury), D - David Horst (Achilles surgery), F - Ricky Lopez-Espin (knee surgery), GK - Connor Sparrow (knee injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Nick Rimando — Brooks Lennon, Nick Besler, Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera — Kyle Beckerman, Damir Kreilach — Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnak, Joao Plata — Corey Baird

Notes: Albert Rusnák has created 26 chances in MLS road games this season. Joao Plata (17) is the only other Real Salt Lake player with more than 12. … Real Salt Lake are averaging 0.5 points per game on the road this season (1W-8L-2D). Since 2010, they have not averaged less than 0.8 in a season.