Real Salt Lake Returns Home For Date With Sounders

SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake will return home this weekend to host the Seattle Sounders at America First Field.

The fixture will mark the third match in a week for both clubs. Real Salt Lake last weekend beat San Jose at home in an emphatic victory before traveling to Vegas for a U.S. Open Cup third-round fixture with USL Championship side Las Vegas Lights where they prevailed 3-1 in extra time.

For Seattle, the Sounders triumphed over Minnesota United 1-0 thanks to an Albert Rusnak 79th-minute goal last weekend before beating San Diego Loyal 5-4 in a chaotic game midweek to also advance into the U.S. Open fourth round.

Real Salt Lake, despite starting the season slowly and enduring four consecutive losses following its opening game of the season victory against Vancouver, has recently played a much more competitive brand of soccer. Beginning on April 8th when RSL hosted Charlotte and defeated them 3-1, the club has since lost to FC Dallas on the road, although should have picked up a point if it wasn’t for a last-minute game-winner, defeated San Jose and advanced in the U.S. Open for the first time since 2016.

#RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni ahead of the clubs big clash against Seattle this weekend.

Looking to go three from three in a span of a week 💪
|| @kslsports pic.twitter.com/P2GvvlingQ

— Tom Hackett (@TomCantHackett) April 28, 2023

Manager Pablo Mastroeni has started to solidify his starting XI after chopping and changing the lineup throughout the first month of the season.

However, Real Salt Lake picked up another unforeseen injury yesterday during training when in-form midfielder Jasper Löffelsend sustained an injury during training on Thursday. KSL Sports has been told that it is an ankle injury and his timeframe for return is unknown. Full-back Andrew Brody has been recovering from a high ankle sprain for multiple weeks and is currently listed as questionable. Brayan Vera, Erik Holt, and Anderson Julio are the other notable players all listed as questionable entering this weekend’s fixture.

Get To Know The Sounders

Seattle is currently sitting in the second position in the Western Conference and is tied with St. Louis on points. As is the case most years, the Sounders are an incredibly competitive and fierce Western Conference threat. Furthermore, this week’s visitors boast a handful of Real Salt Lake personnel. Albert Rusnak, who once captained the Claret and Cobalt, is a key member of the Sounders midfield and acts predominantly as the box-to-box number 8 and is utilized within transition and possession often. Rusnak is joined by former RSL midfielder Kelyn Rowe on the Sounders roster.

Former Real Salt Lake manager Freddy Juarez is an assistant while former Real Salt Lake General Manager Craig Waibel recently took over the front office reign in the Pacific north-west in November of last year.

Real Salt Lake and Seattle always endure fierce battles against one another.

The last time Seattle picked up all three points at America First Field dates back to 2011. However, the Sounders did manage to knock Real Salt Lake out of the postseason in 2012 at the then-Rio Tinto Stadium.

Real Salt Lake is currently enjoying a 12-game unbeaten run against Seattle in Utah and will be hoping to extend their streak this Saturday evening.

Match Info

The game is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be available to broadcast via Apple TV. The radio broadcast will be delivered via The KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM & 1280 AM)with David James and Jay Nolly on the call.

The pregame festivities will begin at 6:30 on the KSL Sports Zone.