RSL Look To Continue Form Against Minnesota United FC

SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake will look to continue their home form as they prepare for Western Conference foe Minnesota United F.C. this Saturday.

After thrashing the number one team in the East last Saturday, the Philadelphia Union, RSL is storming into their next challenge with an immense amount of confidence. After the game against the Union, Petke called the performance the “most complete game that I can recall.”

Minnesota are no slouch, however. They are unbeaten in their last five MLS matches. Their last lost came against the Colorado Rapids on June 8th and they currently sit in fourth spot in the Western Conference.

The History Between RSL, Minnesota

• Sep 15, 2018: RSL 1 – 1 MIN @ Rio Tinto Stadium
• Jul 14, 2018: MIN 3 – 2 RSL @ Allianz Field
• Jun 17, 2017: RSL 1 – 0 MIN @ Rio Tinto Stadium
• Apr 1, 2017: MIN 4 – 2 RSL @ Allianz Field

Minnesota United’s inaugural Major League Soccer season was 2017, hence why RSL and Minnesota have only played each other four times. History says the home team has the advantage, as three of the four matches have favored the home team.

Who To Look For On United

Manager Adrian Heath plays a 4-2-3-1 formation, very similar to how RSL play. Thus far this season, Heath and United have played 20 times, winning 10, drawing 3 and losing 7 times. They sit four points clear of RSL in fourth place.

Goalkeeper Vito Mannone has started every game for United this season after the team picked him up from English Championship side Reading F.C. in February of this year. From the 95 shots faced, Mannone has saved 66 of them and conceded 29 goals. He has 6 clean sheets on the season thus far.

🚫 VITO FREAKING MANNONE 🚫 pic.twitter.com/5qndFcFyUh

— Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) July 14, 2019

Midfielder Jan Gregus, who wears the number eight kit, leads the team with seven assists. Gregus is a designated player for United after the team purchased the Slovakian international in December of last year.

Their star players sit atop the line up with Darwin Quintero and Angelo Rodriguez as the number one and two scorers and shots respectively. Quintero has scored on six different occasions while Rodriguez has five goals on the year. Quintero sits behind Rodriguez in the number ten position but often plays alongside Rodriguez, linking up and running off the shoulders of defenders. Quintero was unable to score in the months of May and June, but bounced back with the opening goal of the match against San Jose on July 3rd.

RSL Club Update

After the match against the Union, manager Mike Petke gave updates on Sam Johnson and Nedum Onuoha. According to Petke, Johnson is 6-8 weeks out from being available after suffering a quad strain. Onuoha is having visa issues and is back home in England trying to sort everything out. Petke expects Onuoha to be back in a week and a half and will therefore miss the upcoming match against Minnesota United.

Tony Beltran remains optomistic and is close to a return after spending the last year and a half recovering from a horrific knee injury.

Donny Toia did not dress for the Philadelphia game after reportedly suffering a hamstring injury. It is unclear when Toia will be available for selection again.

After scoring the opening two goals of the match, RSL winger Jefferson Savarino was named to the MLS Team Of The Week. Savarino has been playing an exquisite brand of soccer since returning from the Copa America tournament where he represented Venezuela.

Week 19's finest. // @Audi pic.twitter.com/L59nfE8QOE

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 15, 2019

The match against Minnesota 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.