Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United FC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 29
Rio Tinto Stadium — Sandy
Sept. 15 — 9:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Real Salt Lake hope to feast on more home cooking to continue a march up the Western Conference standings against a Minnesota United side looking to snap a six-match winless streak.

This is the second meeting this season with the Loons claiming a 3-2 victory at TCF Bank Stadium on July 14. Ibson, Darwin Quintero and Miguel Ibarra scored in a 17-minute span to open up a 3-0 lead before RSL roared back on a Joao Plata brace in the final 13 minutes.

Real Salt Lake and Minnesota have met just three times prior in league play, with the home team winning each of the three previous matches.

Real Salt Lake

After scoring 14 goals in three consecutive wins, Real Salt Lake (13-10-5) are hoping the international break didn’t cool them off.

RSL became the first team in MLS history to score six goals in back-to-back games, the last a 6-2 victory over the LA Galaxy with Damir Kreilach scoring a hat trick and Albert Rusnak adding a brace.

“I think it’s confidence now, not overconfidence,” Mike Petke said. “We’re very grounded right now, we understand who we are, we understand our capabilities, practice over the last month has been so much more intense and so much more specific from the players, getting on each other and making sure we’re connecting passes and making the right movements. I think we’ve grown up a heck of a lot from last year to this year.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Justen Glad, D - Brooks Lennon, 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); QUESTIONABLE: D - Marcelo Silva (ankle injury)

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

Notes: Kreilach has scored one-third of Real Salt Lake’s goals over their last two games (four of their 12). He had six goals in his first 25 league appearances. … Real Salt Lake have won three straight MLS matches, outscoring opponents 14-3 in that time – becoming the first team in league history to score 6+ goals in consecutive MLS games in the process. The club has not won four consecutive league games since 2013.

Minnesota United

Not rewarded for being the better side in the first half, Minnesota (9-16-2) took the lead early in the second half only to concede twice in quick succession to fall to D.C. United, 2-1, Wednesday night at Audi Field.

Angelo Rodriguez opened the scoring two minutes into the second half with his first MLS goal, but Ulises Segura and Darren Mattocks struck four minutes apart as the Loons suffered a fifth loss in the last six games.

“I thought our game plan was good and I thought we set up well," Adrian Heath said. "The disappointment was the goals were soft, from our point of view. We concede too many of them. We are not nasty enough at times. We probably did not make the most of the opportunities we had on the counter attack as well. We had some really good opportunities tonight. Overall I am disappointed we did not take something from the game."

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Miguel Ibarra
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Sam Cronin (cervicogenic dysfunction), M - Kevin Molino (torn left ACL), M - Ethan Finlay (torn ACL); QUESTIONABLE: D - Eric Miller (undisclosed injury)

Projected Starting XI
(3-4-1-2, right to left)
GK: Bobby Shuttleworth — Michael Boxall, Brent Kallman, Francisco Calvo — Miguel Ibarra, Rasmus Schuller, Collen Warner, Jerome Thiesson — Ibson — Angelo Rodriguez, Darwin Quintero

Notes: Bobby Shuttleworth now has eight games this season with 5+ saves, one short of the career high he set last season. … Minnesota have lost five of their last six games (1D), getting outscored 14-6 in that time. Another loss would tie the club’s MLS record for the longest losing streak.

All-Time Series

Overall: Real Salt Lake 1 win, 5 goals … Minnesota United 2 win, 7 goals … 0 draws
At Salt Lake: Real Salt Lake 1 win, 1 goal … Minnesota United 0 wins, 0 goals … 0 draws
Last meeting at Salt Lake: Real Salt Lake 1, Minnesota United FC 0 (June 17, 2017)