Real Salt Lake are looking to continue their unbeaten start to the new MLS season on Sunday, when they welcome Nashville SC to the Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah.
The hosts currently sit second in the Western Conference, while Nashville have claimed four points from a possible nine so far, aiming to bounce back this weekend after suffering their first defeat of the campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
Real Salt Lake came out on top of a closely-fought encounter with New England Revolution last time out, when both sides shared an equal amount of possession and created a similar amount of chances on goal.
Pablo Mastroeni's side were 2-0 down heading into the last 12 minutes of that match, but goals from Sergio Cordova and Justen Glad meant that Tate Schmitt's 93rd-minute strike turned out to be the winner in a five-goal thriller.
After two clean sheets to start the season, Salt Lake would have been disappointed to allow New England to get on the scoresheet twice last Sunday, but they will take confidence from scoring three goals themselves, having netted just once in their previous two outings.
Mastroeni will know the importance of his side continuing their unbeaten run for as long as possible at the beginning of this campaign, which would set them up well for the remainder of the season, and being back on home soil gives the hosts even more of an incentive this weekend.
Los Angeles FC currently top the Western Conference having picked up the same amount of points as Salt Lake, who will want to get their name on top to lead the way and build momentum.
© Reuters
Nashville had started the season well with four points from their first two matches which came away from home, but after not registering a single shot on target last time out, they fell to their first defeat.
On Sunday, Gary Smith's side travelled to face Dallas and were undone by two late goals from the hosts, leaving Nashville to take a 2-0 loss away with them.
The fixture list has not been kind to Nashville, who have to play their opening eight games away from home, not playing on their own patch until the beginning of May, so they will have to show a lot of resilience to bounce back from last weekend's result and avoid a poor run of form.
Smith's side remained unbeaten at the Nissan Stadium last year, but they will need to ensure that their away form is solid during this opening period so that they are not playing catch up for the rest of the campaign.
Nashville can expect Real Salt Lake to come out and press them high up the pitch, but the visitors may try to combat that by playing balls in behind to exploit the space.
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Salt Lake attacking midfielder Maikel Chang Ramirez was forced off after just 14 minutes against New England due to injury, and he is not expected to be fit enough to be included in the squad this weekend.
Sergio Cordova could come into the starting lineup in the absence of Ramirez, and that is likely to be the only change for the hosts, who will play in a 3-4-3 formation.
Striker Bobby Wood has scored one and assisted one goal in his three appearances so far this season, with Cordova and Justin Meram looking to support Wood in attack.
Nashville will adopt a diamond four midfield shape including Dax McCarty, Randall Leal, Sean Davis and Anibal Godoy, while Charles Sapong and Hany Mukhtar lead the line as a striking duo.
Smith has named the same side for all three matches so far this season, and he is likely to do so again with the back four being made up by Daniel Lovitz, David Romney, Walker Zimmerman and Eric Miller.
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Silva, Glad, Holt; Schmitt, Caldwell, Ruiz, Brody; Meram, Cordova; Wood
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Lovitz, Romney, Zimmerman, Miller; McCarty, Leal, David, Godoy; Sapong, Mukhtar
We say: Real Salt Lake 2-1 Nashville SC
Salt Lake will be high in confidence after two consecutive wins and a late winner last weekend, and that should be enough to get past a side who could become defeated with the amount of away games at the beginning of this year.
The hosts are expected to show quality in the final third after netting three times last time out, while Nashville will want to improve on their performance against Dallas and offer a bigger attacking threat.
Top tip
Sammy Wynne
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 41.22%. A win for Nashville SC had a probability of 31.18% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Salt Lake win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.94%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.42%) and 2-0 (7.74%). The likeliest Nashville SC win was 0-1 (10.04%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Real Salt Lake in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Real Salt Lake.
