Real Salt Lake To Face East Leader Philadelphia Union
Jul 12, 2019, 8:11 PM
Real Salt Lake defender Marcelo Silva (30) and Columbus Crew forward JJ Williams (33) grapple for position on the ball as Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew play a Major League Soccer game at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Wednesday, July 3, 2019. RSL won 1-0. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
SANDY, Utah – After losing in the final moments last Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes, Real Salt Lake faces a tough challenge against Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Union at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.
Since returning from a two-week international break in June, RSL has won two matches, lost one and tied once.
RSL is sitting outside of the playoff line in eighth place with 26 points, one point behind the Houston Dynamo for seventh and two points behind San Jose for sixth.
Returning home to take on the Union 💪
📃: https://t.co/L1cVDtmXtS pic.twitter.com/5ShxkQYf1J
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) July 13, 2019
Philly’s Balanced Squad
With the Union’s 36 points in the Eastern Conference to go with 10 wins, 5 losses and 6 draws, they have a plus-11 goal differential.
They are led by German forward Kacper Przybylko with 9 goals and 1 assist in 14 games played. The next three leaders in goals all have found the back of the net four times each in Dutch midfielder Jamiro Monteiro, Brazilian midfielder IlSinho and forward David Accam. Monteiro leads the club in assists with 7.
Andre Blake is the goalkeeper for the Union, who has 24 saves and two clean sheets.
Head coach Jim Curtin rolls out a different formation compared to RSL’s. He plays four in the back, one defensive midfielder, three attacking midfielders and two up top.
Since the international break, the Union have won once, tied twice and lost once.
RSL’s Attack
Leading the RSL attack is Sam Johnson with 8 goals. He missed their last match against San Jose with injury as did defender Nedum Onuoha. Albert Rusnak is second in goals with 6 and 3 assists. Damir Kreilach has 3 assists to lead the team.
Nick Rimando continues to have a fantastic season, which will be his last of his career. He has 37 saves and 4 clean sheets in 15 games played.
Real is -4 in goal differential with 25 goals scored and have allowed 29.
The match against Philadelphia will kickoff at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The match can be streamed live on sports.ksl.com or on the KSL TV app.
RSL Podcasts
sports.ksl.com, in collaboration with Real Salt Lake, has launched a new podcast, The RSL Lion’s Den. It is the official Real Salt Lake podcast for all club news and updates. KSL Sports analysts Spencer Warne, along with RSL PR director Matt Gashck and I break down the games and discuss important club matters.
