Real Salt Lake vs. LA Galaxy, 2016 MLS: Match Preview

Fresh off their win over the Colombus Crew over the weekend, Bruce Arena’s men travel to Sandy, Utah to take on Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday.

For most of the LA Galaxy’s MLS season, StubHub Center has been the place where the Galaxy go when looking to break a poor run of results. That was the case on Saturday as the Galaxy earned their first league win in seven games with a 2-1 result against the Crew.

The Rio Tinto Stadium, however, has always done the opposite. Real Salt Lake still offers and awkward away trip for the Galaxy, and this is a setting where Bruce Arena’s men have been unable to claim all three points in their last seven games.

Given the Galaxy’s recent struggles in Utah, it could even be said Real Salt Lake are well suited to get a positive result here. And it’s not just history they have on their side, Jeff Cassar’s side is coming to this game on the back of two straight wins and more than a whole week of rest.

It should also be acknowledged that the Galaxy will be missing three key players through injury (Steven Gerrard, Jelle Van Damme, and Gyasi Zardes), and Robbie Keane is questionable for this match. In contrast, Real Salt Lake’s only major absence will be Kyle Beckerman, who is out on international duty for the United States.

The Galaxy and RSL have already met once this season, ending in a 5-2 victory for Los Angeles. The big question with this game is how Bruce Arena will plan this match out. While the Galaxy have already tasted victory once against RSL, a match at the Rio Tinto offers a completely different set of issues to overcome. With both teams tied for points in the Western Conference standings, a positive result here would put either team in the driver seat for a spot in the playoffs.

LAST MEETING

LA Galaxy 5-2 Real Salt Lake - April 23, 2016 - MLS

Emmanuel Boateng scored once and notched two assists to help the Galaxy cruise to a 5-2 win over the then undefeated Real Salt Lake.

LIKELY LINE-UPS

LA Galaxy (4-2-3-1): Rowe; Rogers, Steres, DeLaGarza, Cole; Husidic, Larentowicz; Boateng, dos Santos, Lletget; Magee

Real Salt Lake (4-3-3): Rimando; Wingert, Olave, Glad, Phillips; Mulholland, Morales, Holness ; Martinez, Movsisyan, Plata