Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew meet at Rio Tinto Stadium, in a match for the 0 th day of the MLS. The record of direct confrontations of the last 3 years is favorable to the visiting team, which in the last 3 matches won 2 and tied 1. The last direct confrontation between these two teams, on 06-30-2018, ended with the victory of Columbus Crew for (2-1). Particular attention is required for the home / away condition, since both teams present significantly different results at home and abroad.
On Wednesday there will be another clash for Major League Soccer, between Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew. This will be a confrontation in which both teams seek a place in the qualifying zone for the playoffs. It will be a confrontation between different conference teams. The main objective of both is to get into the classification area of their conferences, because they have not yet been successful.
Real Salt Lake:
The home team reaches this phase of MLS (Regular Season) after a home win by (2-0) with Kansas City. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 3 wins, 3 draws and 9 losses in away matches, with 17 goals scored and 32 conceded; against 7 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses at their stadium, with 28 goals scored and 24 conceded. In the last 7 home league matches Real Salt Lake has a record of 5 wins and 2 losses, so they have won 15 points out of 21 possible. In their home league matches the most frequent result at half-time was the 1-0 (3 out of 7 matches). The team has conceded goals in 7 of the last 10 matches, so it has not presented great defensive solidity, but their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 9 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In 17 matches in this competition, he never got the comeback in the 8 games in which he suffered the first goal. In the last 9 away matches for all competitions there is 1 period that stands out: they have conceded 4 of their 11 goals between minutes (61′-75 ‘).
The Salt Lake team has been oscillating a lot in this competition and for that reason has not yet reached its goal. In his last 11 games he won 5, lost 5 and tied one. In their last match, they tied with the Chicago Fire by 1×1, away from home. Now, the game is in their domains and nothing better than having the support of the fans to get the victory. However, the team coach will have to present on the field a team to press offensively and leave his opponent on the defensive, he can not make more mistakes.
His defensive system is not very qualified, then, the coach must find solutions to correct it, if he wants to continue dreaming about something in the competition. Mike Petke, the team coach, must find the necessary changes to present good football for his fans in this match. He must have Jordan Allen as his absence and Tony Beltran is in doubt, but he will hardly act.
Columbus Crew:
The visiting team arrives at this phase of the MLS (Regular Season) after having eliminated Orlando City, with a loss by (0-2) at home in the previous round. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 1 win, 3 draws and 11 losses in away matches; against 6 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses at their stadium. For the league, Columbus Crew won 3 points out of 21 possible points, after 1 win and 6 losses in the last 7 away matches.
For this competition, it records a sequence of 6 defeats in the last matches as a visitor. The team has not been very strong defensively, since it has suffered goals in the last 10 games which it disputed in this competition. In 18 matches in this competition, he never got the comeback in the 12 games in which he suffered the first goal.
The team of the Columbus Crew has the same objective of its rival, the one of looking for a place in the zone of classification for the playoffs of the competition. However, it will not be an easy game, as both teams are fighting for the same goal and have almost the same level of football and the number of points won so far, with only 3 points of difference between the two teams. However, Columbus is aware that the moment of form of the rival is a bit better than yours, it comes from several defeats followed by this competition.
In his last 10 matches he has only one victory. What is very little and will hardly reverse this situation. Now, he will act in the domains of the rival and will hardly manage to win. In his last match he was defeated at home by Sporting KC, by the score of 1×0. The team’s coach, Gregg Berhalter, must present on the field a very defensive team, looking only for counterattacks.
