Preview:Charlotte FC vs Real Salt Lake - prediction, team news, lineups

For the first time in their history, Real Salt Lake will visit Bank of America Stadium for an MLS affair on Saturday versus a surging Charlotte FC.

A 1-0 victory over FC Cincinnati last week enabled the Crown to maintain their seventh place standing in the Eastern Conference, while Salt Lake are now 10th in the West following a 2-1 defeat at the New York Red Bulls.

Match preview

Another strong and disciplined defensive performance by Charlotte last weekend enabled them to pad their lead in the race for an automatic place in the opening round of the playoffs.

Dean Smith’s side are now three points clear of New York City FC for that final spot, though the latter have two games in hand on them down the stretch of the season.

That means the Crown will need to keep winning, something they have done a lot of domestically of late, with victories in five successive league fixtures.

At the same time, they have points in six straight MLS affairs, and a triumph on Saturday would equal a club record for home wins in a single season (10 in 2022).

Since entering the league in 2022, the Crown have suffered just one defeat in league play at home when netting multiple times, losing 3-2 to the Chicago Fire in their inaugural campaign three years ago.

Charlotte are 2-0 at home in the 2025 regular season versus Western Conference opposition, winning those two matches by a combined margin of 7-1.

A match that looked like it would end in another victory for Real Salt Lake took a dramatic turn against them in the second half last Saturday.

Claret and Cobalt conceded twice in the final 45 minutes and are now on the outside of the playoff picture, a point below the San Jose Earthquakes for that final place.

That loss also ended a two-match unbeaten run for them away from home in MLS, in what was only their second defeat in their last eight domestic affairs.

Pablo Mastroeni’s side have failed to win three away matches in the league this year when netting the opening goal, dropping seven points as a result.

RSL have not won a regular-season away game versus an Eastern Conference opponent since April 2024, when they hung on to a 2-1 win in Chester against the Philadelphia Union.

Their only previous league contest against Charlotte occurred at America First Field in 2023 when Salt Lake walked away with a 3-1 come-from-behind triumph.

Charlotte FC Major League Soccer form:

Charlotte FC form (all competitions):

Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer form:

Real Salt Lake form (all competitions):

Team News

At home to Cincinnati, Charlotte were missing Souleyman Doumbia and Pep Biel as they were dealing with hamstring strains, while captain Ashley Westwood was sidelined with a yellow card suspension and will be eligible to return on Saturday.

Wilfried Zaha netted five minutes before the 90 last week, while Kristijan Kahlina made seven stops to collect his second consecutive domestic clean sheet.

As for RSL, Mason Stajduhar missed their previous match with a sore hand, Zac MacMath sat out due to a shoulder issue, Javain Brown was sidelined with a knee injury and Matthew Bell was unavailable because of a hamstring strain.

Zavier Gozo gave them the lead after only four minutes last week, while Diego Luna will have to sit out of this match after being red-carded in the latter stages of that encounter.

Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:

Kahlina; Marshall-Rutty, Malanda, Ream, Byrne; Vargas, Bronico, Westwood, Abada; Toklomati, Zaha

Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:

Cabral; Caliskan, Glad, Vera, Junqua; Ojeda, Eneli; Goncalves, Ruiz; Gozo, Agada