With both clubs coming off convincing Week One victory Saturday’s match between Sounders FC and Real Salt Lake should be an exciting affair for the fans. Real Salt Lake scored two seconds to overpower the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 in BC Place last week. The Sounders are buoyed by their 4-0 dominant win over an undermanned Colorado Rapids.
TWO FAMILIAR FOES
Both clubs play a similar 4-2-3 1 formation so the ball should move from side to side as well as up and down. Look for a physical game between two Western Conference foes who have produced some classic matches. Add in the fact that Real Salt Lake has won the last two matches and you have the makings of a classic rivalry between two of the proudest squads in MLS.
Real Salt Lake will be without midfielder Jasper Löffelsend who was suspended for the Seattle match for spitting at an opponent during the February 25th match at Vancouver. The offense was deemed violent conduct by the MLS Disciplinary Committee
GAME NOTES
RSL has also emerged victorious in each of its last two road visits to Seattle, with a 2-1 win last year – game-winner supplied by DF Andrew Brody as well as a memorable 0-0, 120-minute decision that saw RSL emerge 6-5 on kicks from the penalty mark. In that playoff match, Glad supplied the decisive kick to shock the world and vault RSL through to the 2021 Western Conference Semifinals.
Prior to the two recent results at SEA, RSL had lost 10 of its previous 11 visits to Seattle from 2013 onward.
FAMILIARITY BETWEEN THE TWO TEAMS
Former Seattle Manager Garth Lagerwey held the same role at Real Salt Lake before his off-season move to Atlanta United
Former RSL manager Freddy Juarez joined the Sounders’ staff in August, 2021, after 11 years with the Utah organization. Sounder’s current GM Craig Waibel was Lagerwey’s successor at Real Salt Lake from 2015-19. Midfielder Albert Rusnák signed with Seattle 14 months ago as a free agent, after notching 41 goals and adding 39 assists for Real from 2017-21.
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