San Jose, CA – Earthquakes vs. Real Salt Lake at Avaya Stadium, June 24,2017.
If the San Jose Earthquakes have done a close enough analysis of Real Salt Lake in the first half of the 2018 MLS campaign, they would notice an awful lot of familiarity, with emphasis being on awful in regard to their road record. Saturday Night, the Earthquakes will get their first look at the team that looks the most like their 2017 version when they travel to Sandy, Utah to face RSL as MLS play resumes after a 10 day FIFA World Cup break.
Much like last season’s Quakes, RSL finds themselves sitting above the red line in the Western Conference but tied for the worst goal differential in the Western Conference with bottom of the table Colorado. The Claret and Cobalt have been abysmal on the road, with a 1-6-1 record and a -15 goal differential, punctuated by a 3-0 loss to the LA Galaxy before the World Cup break. The saving grace for RSL has been the fortress that has been Rio Tinto Stadium. Since a 5-1 beating in their home opener at the hands of LAFC, RSL has won six straight games in MSL Regular Season play at the RioT. With road points difficult to come by, RSL knows they need to pick up all three in a home game against one of the teams chasing them in the Western Conference.
While San Jose has continued to be bad on the road, their home form has been just as bad if not worse. The Quakes closed out pre-World Cup action with a 2-2 draw against the New England Revolution, snapping a four game losing streak. Danny Hoesen tallied a brace for the Quakes, giving him a team high nine goals on the season, tied for fourth in MLS. The Dutchman has been one of the few bright spots in San Jose this season, and as Coach Mikael Stahre has tinkered with the lineup continually this season, it has become apparent that Hoesen is the guy that his attack will be centered around if the Quakes plan to make a playoff push in this second part of the MLS season.
While the Quakes got a 2-1 win in the home leg in 2017, last season’s trip to Utah was an embodiment of the Quakes on the road last year, as a 61st minute red card to Anibal Godoy led to the floodgates opening for RSL, turning a 1-0 lead at the time Godoy was sent off into a dominating 4-0 performance. Despite the result, history in Salt Lake City has been kinder to the Quakes than most, with San Jose having notched three wins and six draws, good for the third most points of any visitor at Rio Tinto Stadium.
With Godoy and Harold Cummings still in Russia with Panama, San Jose is also dealing with injuries to potential starters at left back in Shea Salinas (hamstring) and Joel Qwiberg (knee). Against New England, the Quakes deployed Francis Affolter on the left, with results that weren’t the disaster many fans had feared when the lineup was announced. With holes still to fill in the center of the park, players like Fatai Alashe and Tommy Thompson have found themselves with increased minutes, but neither player has grabbed a consistent spot in the midfield by the horns as many had hoped.
San Jose, CA – Earthquakes vs. Real Salt Lake at Avaya Stadium, June 24,2017.
For RSL, the key to this match will be the continued consistency along the mostly homegrown backline. As the season has progressed, young guns Justen Glad, Danny Acosta, and Brooks Lennon have developed into a solid backline ahead of Nick Rimando. While RSL can always count on their legendary keeper Rimando-ing teams, the kids on the back line have done a nice job of making his job a lot easier than many had expected.
Real Salt Lake’s home form should ultimately prove to be too much for a shorthanded Earthquakes team, gaining even more separation from the group that finds themselves below the red line.
San Jose Earthquakes
