What To Expect When Real Salt Lake Hosts Houston This Weekend
May 27, 2022, 3:59 PM
Anderson Julio #29 of Real Salt Lake battles for the ball with Sam Junqua #29 of the Houston Dynamo during their game on June 26, 2021 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake welcome Houston Dynamo to Rio Tinto Stadium this weekend in front of another expected sell-out crowd.
The upcoming fixture will mark the second outing between the two clubs who met during the opening game of the 2022 season. The first fixture ended in a scoreless draw.
Real Salt Lake enters the fixture coming off an impressive 2-1 road victory against Eastern Conference foe FC Montreal. Houston, on the other hand, enters the contest coming off a 2-1 midweek U.S. Open Cup loss to Sporting Kansas City. Their last MLS fixture ended in a 3-0 victory on the road against the LA Galaxy.
Sava Is Back
Rio Tinto Stadium will be filled with excitement ahead of the fixture due to the recent arrival of Jefferson Savarino who landed in Utah earlier this week after completing the necessary immigration requirements. Savarino is not expected to start and has admitted that his fitness level does not yet allow for him to play 90 minutes, but he did say that he hopes to see minutes off the bench if Mastroeni chooses to utilize him.
Savarino last played a competitive match on April 23rd when he bagged a brace in his final game with Atlético Mineiro. Since then he has been training by himself ensuring that he maintains some fitness.
Nevertheless, Savarino is happy and excited to be back. He has fond memories of Real Salt Lake and has admitted to KSL Sports that he has been welcomed back with open arms by his peers in the locker room.
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Savarino’s inclusion into the gameday roster is expected. Manager Pablo Mastroeni told KSL Sports on Friday that Savarino has trained incredibly well throughout the week and has recovered effectively. Savarino participated in the team’s full training session on Friday and was seen taking corner kicks for his new club as they went through their corner kick routine ahead of this weekend’s fixture.
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 27, 2022
Injury Report
Sadly, captain Damir Kreilach will miss yet another fixture as he continues to recover from a back injury that has sidelined him since April 17. Kreilach is joined by Zach Farnsworth, Brett Halsey, and Jonathan Menéndez who have been listed as out. Erik Holt and Anderson Julio are listed as questionable.
Real Salt Lake will continue to search for creativity through the run of play as they enter the middle part of the season. So far, the majority of goal scored by Real Salt Lake has come by the way of set pieces as defenders Justen Glad and Tate Schmitt join Bobby Wood and Sergio Córdova atop the goal-scoring list for Real Salt Lake.
Houston is led by Sebastián Ferreira and Darwin Quintero who have both managed five goals on the year. As a team, Houston has scored 17 times while conceding 14 goals. A complete opposite of Real Salt Lake who has scored 14 goals and conceded 17.
Despite the goal differential, Real Salt Lake sits four points clear of Houston on 22 points. Houston is in the seventh position in the West and Real Salt Lake in the fourth.
Match Info
Real Salt Lake will host Houston at Rio Tinto Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 28.
The fixture will be available to stream for free via the KSL Sports and KSL 5 TV apps or on KSL Sports dot com.
