Real Salt Lake Host Columbus Crew In Mid-Week MLS Action

SANDY, Utah – After beating Sporting Kansas City last Saturday evening, Real Salt Lake has a short four-day turnaround before they host the Columbus Crew in mid-week MLS action.

RSL is playing a good brand of soccer coming off the 2-0 victory over SKC in which striker Sam Johnson scored a brace in the first half and put the game to bed by the time half time rolled around. Columbus, however, are on a fast decline, losing five of their last six matches.

RSL, Columbus History

• Jun 30, 2018: CLB 2 – 1 RSL @ MAPFRE Stadium
• Jul 29, 2017: RSL 2 – 2 CLB @ Rio Tinto Stadium
• May 28, 2016: CLB 4 – 3 RSL @ MAPFRE Stadium
• Jun 27, 2015: RSL 2 – 2 CLB @ Rio Tinto Stadium
• Jun 4, 2014: CLB 1 – 1 RSL @ MAPFRE Stadium

History does not bode well for RSL as they have not beaten the Crew in their last five attempts.

The Crew are not a good soccer team this year, they currently sit in the 11th spot in the Eastern Conference and have only scored 16 goals on the season. Compare that with RSL’s 24.

RSL Club Update

Real Salt Lake are healthy. Tony Beltran is still recovering from a knee injury and will return in a couple of weeks. In the meantime he is training with the team but still needs time to improve his fitness.

Justen Glad made the bench on this weeks MLS Team Of The Week. Glad finished the game against SKC with four clearances, two aerial wins and 17 successful passes. The young homegrown product is slowly cementing his spot next to Nedum Onuoha at center back, leaving Marcelo Silva on the bench.

Head coach Mike Petke tinkered with the lineup against SKC last weekend, pushing Albert Rusnak out onto the right wing, moving Damir Kreilach from striker to center attacking midfield and playing Sam Johnson at striker. The move worked to perfection, Johnson scored the games only two goals of the match while Kreilach had two assists and Rusnak played both balls to Kreilach who then went on to set up Johnson.

"It's all about the game tomorrow" pic.twitter.com/oSJCPlBjCp

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) July 2, 2019

Who Are The Columbus Crew?

Despite their record and standing, the Crew have a number of very talented players. Including strikers Gyasi Zardes, Federico Higuain, midfielder Will Trapp and goalkeeper Zack Steffen.

However, Gyasi Zardes, Will Trapp and Zack Steffen are all a part of the USMNT Gold Cup roster and will not be available for selection against RSL.

Head coach for the Columbus Crew, Caleb Porter, plays a 4-2-3-1 formation. Leaving both holding midfielders Artur and David Guzman with a lot of responsibility to try and control the tempo and pace of the game.

Broadcast Info

The match against Columbus Crew will kickoff at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

The match can be streamed live on KSLSports.com or on the KSL TV app.

RSL Podcasts

KSLSports.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 Tom Hackett and Spencer Warne, along with RSL PR director Matt Gashck break down the games and discuss important club matters.

Check out the latest episode previewing the match against Columbus.

To listen to The Lion’s Den, click here. It is available on iTunes, Google Play or wherever podcasts are found. Please rate and subscribe to The Lion’s Den for all things Real Salt Lake.

Head coach Mike Petke and TV analyst Brian Dunseth have launched their own podcast titled Off The Chest. The duo discuss all matters of the world’s game in a entertaining and informative podcast that will be sure bring the laughs.