Western Conference high-flyers Real Salt Lake will return to action this weekend when they travel to face Colorado Rapids on Sunday morning.
Sitting pretty in second, Real Salt Lake will be hoping to extend their gap over fellow playoff chasers and potentially even return top of the Western Conference itself.
Match preview
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Losers in just one of their five Major League Soccer outings so far, Real Salt Lake have impressed in the Western Conference and look a strong shout for a playoff berth.
Currently level on points with leaders Los Angeles FC, Real Salt Lake could go top of the division with a win, should the side from California fail to pick up points against Orlando City.
Built on sturdy foundations, Real Salt Lake have operated with a strong defensive policy this season, shipping just four goals in their opening five matches.
At the opposite end, scoring has not necessarily been the most free-flowing, with the Claret and Cobalt having scored just six times so far.
Similarly enough, Sunday's opponents in Colorado boast the exact same offensive-defensive record to Real Salt Lake, despite the Rapids having played a game less.
Two wins, one draw and one loss from their opening four MLS matches has positioned the Rapids inside the top seven, and they would overtake Real Salt Lake in the table with another victory on Sunday.
After suffering an opening-night defeat to leaders LAFC, Colorado are yet to lose in MLS, and will be keen to extend their unbeaten run to four games this weekend.
However, a less than positive head-to-head record against Real Salt Lake does suggest that it may be difficult for the Rapids on Sunday, as they have managed just two victories from the previous 11 MLS meetings.
For the Claret and Cobalt, they will take confidence from past encounters, as they look to move top of the Western Conference perch.
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Team News
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Colorado's impressive start to the campaign is made all the better by the fact that they are missing two players with ACL injuries.
Aboubacar Keita is set to miss the majority of the campaign through injury, while Braian Galvan is also likely to be out until mid-October at the earliest.
Looking to keep his third clean sheet in four matches, William Yarbrough will start between the sticks for the hosts this weekend.
As for Real Salt Lake, they are also suffering with an extensive injury problem, with Nathan Cardoso set to be a huge miss for the visitors.
The defender is nursing a knee injury and is unlikely to be back until the end of the month, whereas Shea Salinas is suffering with a similar problem but should return in mid-April.
Elsewhere, George Asomani is facing a race against time to be fit for the clash, but will likely be forced to miss it due to a hip problem.
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Yarbrough; Trusty, Abubakar, Rosenberry; Wilson, Kaye, Price, Beitashour; Barrios, Rubio, Lewis
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Holt, Glad, Kappelhof; Schmitt, Caldwell, Ruiz, Brody; Meram, Wood, Chang
We say: Colorado Rapids 2-2 Real Salt Lake
Two sides that have enjoyed strong starts to the campaign, something will have to give when the playoff hopefuls meet on Saturday night.
Colorado boast the home advantage, but Real Salt Lake have already displayed a way to grind out results, with the likely outcome a score draw.
Top tip
Amos Murphy
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Colorado Rapids win with a probability of 54.86%. A draw had a probability of 24% and a win for Real Salt Lake had a probability of 21.18%.
The most likely scoreline for a Colorado Rapids win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.1%) and 2-1 (9.71%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.39%), while for a Real Salt Lake win it was 0-1 (6.69%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
