Two sides battling for spots in the top seven of the Major League Soccer standings will meet on Thursday, as Real Salt Lake play host to Los Angeles Galaxy.
The hosts currently occupy seventh spot in the Western Conference, while their visitors sit two points better off in fifth place.
Match preview
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While they have failed to establish consistency in the MLS so far this season, Real Salt Lake currently occupy a playoff place in the Western Conference, sitting on a tally of 36 points from their 26 outings.
Their successes have largely come in attack, with only second-placed Sporting Kansas City topping their 42 goals at this stage, although the defence is certainly an area to improve on, with only three sides in the division shipping more than the 41 goals that RSL have conceded.
While they appeared to have built a positive run recently, winning three of their four games at the beginning of September, the Claret and Cobalt now come into Thursday's game on the back of a heavy defeat at the hands of Portland Timbers.
After Damir Kreilach pulled a goal back for RSL, they went into half time 2-1 down, but second-half goals from Yimmi Chara, Diego Chara, Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Cristhian Paredes saw the hosts race to a rampant 6-1 win.
The Utah side will be desperate to quickly bounce back from that shocking defeat and return to winning ways, as three sides sit in hot pursuit of their playoff place.
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They meet an LA Galaxy side who will hope to put an end to a seven-game winless run in the MLS, having quickly fallen down the table.
After a strong start to the campaign, the visitors sat on 35 points from 19 games and found themselves battling at the top end of the division as a result.
Greg Vanney's side have since hit a more difficult run though, as a spell of 10 points from four games was followed by 2-1 defeats to Colorado Rapids and San Jose Earthquakes.
Galaxy then played out three consecutive draws, before being handed another defeat as they were thrashed 3-0 by Minnesota United.
Vanney's men then suffered a fourth defeat in the last seven outings on Monday, as they lost 2-0 to Austin FC, who sit at the foot of the Eastern Conference, with Moussa Djitte and McKinze Gaines condemning them to another miserable loss.
Having now fallen to fifth spot, with just a two-point lead over Thursday's opponents and a four-point cushion in the playoffs, the Los Angeles side will be hoping to end their poor run and return to winning ways on Thursday to climb back up the Conference.
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Team News
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Real Salt Lake will remain without forward Bobby Wood and defender Marcelo Silva through injuries, while Andrew Brody and Zac MacMath are also doubts after missing out against Portland TImbers.
Damir Kreilach will keep his place in the front line after pulling a goal back in that game, and he should again be joined by Rubio Rubin, who has contributed seven goals and five assists in the MLS so far this season.
After the thrashing last time out, RSL may look to make changes to the back line, with Toni Datkovic potentially dropping out.
LA Galaxy's only absentee should be Derrick Williams, who continues to miss out through injury, while Vanney may look to freshen up his side after a poor run.
He will rely on forward Javier Hernandez, who has hit 11 goals in 14 MLS appearances this season.
After a series of disappointing defensive performances, Nick DePuy will be keen to come into the starting XI in place of Daniel Steres.
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
Ochoa; Glad, Holt, Morgan; Herrera, Ruiz, Luiz, Meram; Rusnak; Rubin, Kreilach
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
Bond; Araujo, Coulibaly, DePuy, Villafana; Lletget, Dos Santos, Raveloson, Cabral; Vazquez, Hernandez
We say: Real Salt Lake 1-2 Los Angeles Galaxy
Both sides come into this game looking to correct their form, and this encounter could certainly go either way.
Despite finding themselves in a poor run of form, we back LA Galaxy to end their winless run thanks to their slightly superior quality, as they take on a side with knocked confidence following the thrashing last time out.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 Real Salt Lake win with a probability of 55.33%. A draw had a probability of 23.6% and a win for Los Angeles Galaxy had a probability of 21.08%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Salt Lake win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.46%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.99%) and 2-1 (9.78%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.22%), while for a Los Angeles Galaxy win it was 0-1 (6.44%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Real Salt Lake would win this match.
