Real Salt Lake host St Louis City at the Rio Tinto Stadium on Sunday in the second meeting between these two sides in the MLS already this season.
The hosts have picked up two wins, two losses and a draw from their opening games, while the visitors will be looking to make it six unbeaten in the league at the start of this campaign.
Match preview
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Salt Lake have had a difficult start to their season, losing two and winning two of their opening five matches with a draw against Sunday's opponents in their second game of the campaign making up the remaining result.
Pablo Mastroeni's side were able to bounce back with a victory over Vancouver Whitecaps in their previous encounter having lost to rivals Colorado Rapids in the Rocky Mountain Cup, their first defeat against the Rapids since August 2021.
While they will take confidence from their impressive victories over the Whitecaps and Los Angeles FC, Salt Lake have shown poor defensive solidity in their opening matches, conceding six in their five outings so far.
That is something that the Claret and Cobalt have struggled with in recent years, conceding 50 or more goals in two of the last three campaigns, while the only season they managed to allow fewer than 50 goals still saw them concede more than they scored.
They will have to improve on those poor defensive performances in their coming game against a St Louis City side who have shown an excellent attacking prowess since joining the league last year, netting 62 goals in 34 matches in their debut campaign and already scoring 10 in their opening five this time around.
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As for the visitors, they are looking to continue their unbeaten start that has seen them become the only ever expansion side in MLS history to go without defeat in the first five matches of both of their first two seasons in the division.
While last year saw them start their debut campaign by picking up five consecutive wins, before finally being beaten by Minnesota United, they have struggled for victories this time around with one win and four draws.
Their first game of the season saw them come from behind to draw with Sunday's opponents, courtesy of Samuel Adeniran's goal just five minutes after Salt Lake opened the scoring.
That result was the first stalemate between these two sides after last season's two matches were split between the teams, with St Louis City winning 4-0 at the Rio Tinto Stadium before Salt Lake got their revenge with a 3-1 victory in the reverse fixture.
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Team News
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Both teams could be without up to three players for their second meeting of the season.
Salt Lake are certain to be missing Kevin Bonilla, who is likely to be out for the remainder of the campaign with a knee injury, and Pablo Ruiz, who is out for the year with a torn ACL.
Zack Farnsworth is yet to make an appearance this year, and the full-back remains doubtful for this one.
St Louis City's Eduard Lowen and Joakim Nilsson are unavailable for selection due to injuries that could keep them out for multiple weeks, while Tim Parker could feature having recovered from a back problem.
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Brody, Glad, Vera, Katranis; Eneli, Ojeda; Gomez, Luna, Barajas; Arango
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Totland, Yaro, Hiebert, Markanich; Vassilev, Durkin, Ostrak, Pompeu; Jackson, Klauss
We say: Real Salt Lake 1-2 St Louis City
St Louis City have a knack for scoring goals and, combined with Salt Lake's rather poor defensive record in recent seasons, we believe the visitors will end their drawing streak and take a victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
