Los Angeles Football Club have had a track record of recent success in Utah ahead of visiting Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
The defending MLS Cup champions have won three straight matches in the Beehive State and five of six all-time in Sandy, Utah. LAFC has dominated the series overall, capturing 10 of 11 regular-season meetings since entering the league. Salt Lake’s lone victory in the series came in 2020. The Utah club has been outscored 26-10 in 11 all-time regular-season matches.
Los Angeles (5-1-3, 18 points) is winless in three of its last four matches. The L.A. club suffered its first loss of the season with a 2-1 setback at San Jose on Saturday. LAFC never led the Earthquakes despite finishing with a 17-9 advantage with total shots and a 7-3 edge with shots on goal. Denis Bouanga had a 30th minute equalizer but LAFC never truly seized momentum.
“I thought the performance was okay,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “(We) looked to me a little mentally and psychically fatigued in moments where the game is decided — that’s in the final third.”
Salt Lake (3-5-2, 11 points) hopes a resurgent defense can be a difference maker in generating a rare positive result against Los Angeles.
RSL has posted consecutive clean sheets in back-to-back 0-0 draws against Seattle and Houston. They were the first shutouts of the season for goalkeeper Zac MacMath. Salt Lake is carrying an active shutout streak of 221 minutes into Saturday’s match.
The second scoreless draw came on the road where RSL has had a fair share of struggles early in the season.
“There was a time in the season where we were conceding a lot of goals and so that’s obviously been a huge part of our focus in the last month,” Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “And, obviously, when you come on the road, it becomes more of an emphasis as well. So I think it was a gutsy performance from the guys.”
Both teams earned victories in US Open Cup action on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media