Real Salt Lake vs. Chicago Fire
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 23
Rio Tinto Stadium — Sandy
August 4 - 10 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)
Clinging to the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake are hoping their home form remains stellar when they face a faltering Chicago Fire team who could find themselves in 10th place in the Eastern Conference after the weekend.
RSL are coming off a 0-0 draw against San Jose, securing just the fifth point away from Rio Tinto this year, while the Fire have dropped five straight games, including consecutive losses to Toronto FC.
Chicago won 2-0 this past March in their most recent game against Real Salt Lake, which was their first win against them since Sept. 2011. The Fire went 3L-2D in the five games in between, per Opta.
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Real Salt Lake
Points on the road have been at a premium for Real Salt Lake (9-9-4), so a 0-0 draw at Avaya Stadium — their second consecutive draw — wasn’t the worst result. But considering the Earthquakes have a league-worst 13 points, RSL certainly left San Jose disappointed.
Their best chance to take all three points came in the 54th minute when Justen Glad directed a header toward the far post, but Andrew Tarbell did well to range to his right and push aside the opportunity.
“They’re desperate and they’re dangerous and we responded,” RSL assistant coach Freddy Juarez said. “I thought for long portions of the game we had the ball and other portions we had to make it ugly, so it was just a mixture of phases where we were attacking and defending. But I think what the guys showed today was fight from the beginning to the end, which was great to watch.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: None
- 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
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Nick Rimando — Brooks Lennon, Marcelo Silva, Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera — Albert Rusnak, Sunny, Kyle Beckerman — Jefferson Savarino, Corey Baird, Joao Plata
- Notes: Albert Rusnák (six assists) and Damir Kreilach (six) are the first Real Salt Lake teammates with 6+ assists in a season since 2014. ... Real Salt Lake are averaging 2.4 points per MLS home game this season (8W-01L-2D), the second most of any MLS club. It would be their most in a season since 2010.
Chicago Fire
After a 2-1 home loss to Toronto FC the previous week, Chicago (6-12-5) dropped a 3-0 decision to the same opponents Saturday at BMO Field, the club’s fifth consecutive defeat.
Following a scoreless first half, Jozy Altidore struck first for Toronto in the 52nd minute with Jonathan Osorio doubling the Reds lead in the 72nd minute and Sebastian Giovinco putting the game away one minute before full time.
“I think it’s very important to support our players,” Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic said. “We have to acknowledge that we didn’t have a good performance so far in some of the games, but we always gave our best. And when you see that, I think you have to acknowledge that and you have to recognize the effort the guys are putting in and you have to support everyone and give everything they need to recover for the next game. Most importantly to recover emotionally, to recover the mood.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: None
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: M - Djordje Mihailovic (right ACL surgery), F - Michael de Leeuw (left ACL surgery), D - Matt Polster (MCL surgery), GK - Patrick McLain (hamstring injury), D - Grant Lillard (right quad injury), M - Dax McCarty (hamstring injury); QUESTIONABLE: D - Jorge Corrales (facial injury)
Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Richard Sanchez — Kevin Ellis, Johan Kappelhof, Brandon Vincent, Raheem Edwards — Brandt Bronico, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nicolas Hasler — Aleksandar Katai, Nemanja Nikolic, Diego Campos
- Notes: Since joining the Fire, Bastian Schweinsteiger is averaging 86.9 touches per MLS game. Only Seattle’s Nico Lodeiro (91.7) and Toronto’s Michael Bradley (91.6) average more in that time. ... The Fire have tied a franchise record by losing five straight MLS games. Additionally, they have allowed multiple goals in six consecutive matches, also a franchise record.
All-Time Series
- Overall: Real Salt Lake 6 wins, 18 goals … Chicago Fire 7 wins, 24 goals … 7 draws
- At Salt Lake: Real Salt Lake 3 wins, 10 goals … Fire 3 wins, 13 goals … 3 draws
- Last meeting at Salt Lake: Real Salt Lake 3, Chicago Fire 1 (August 6, 2016)
Officials
Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistant Referees: Jeffrey Greeson, Gjovalin Bori
4th Official: Malik Badawi
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
