Real Salt Lake Travels East For Penultimate Road Test
Sep 13, 2022, 2:46 PM
Sergio Cordova lies on the Rio Tinto Stadium pitch against Austin FC on May 14 in the 2-1 win. (Photo by Laura Dearden/Real Salt Lake)
(Photo by Laura Dearden/Real Salt Lake)
SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake will embark on a mighty challenge on the road against Austin FC this upcoming Wednesday evening in the penultimate road test of the season.
RSL currently finds itself in the final playoff position with just four regular season games remaining while Austin boasts the second-best record in the West and is poised to host a playoff game in 2022.
Unfortunately, RSL has only won on 3 occasions over the previous 14 games, which marks the lowest number of victories in the league over that stretch. The club is slipping down the western conference and a road test against Austin will be difficult.
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) September 13, 2022
However, as disappointing as previous results have been, RSL still has an opportunity to reassert itself as a contender. Believe it or not, RSL is still only three points shy of chasing fourth-placed Nashville on points. RSL also has a game in hand on Nashville.
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Austin, unsurprisingly, has only lost three times at home and enjoys playing in front of their beloved home faithful. If Real Salt Lake is to pick up a victory, they will be required to find the road form that allowed them to make a deep playoff run a year ago.
Austin FC prefers to play a high defensive line, specifically at home, which could grant RSL with some counter-attacking opportunities.
It will be interesting to see how manager Pablo Mastroeni lines up against Austin given the midweek match and the magnitude of the fixture. RSL most recently drew 0-0 against DC United on Saturday evening and will host Cincinnati this upcoming Saturday evening.
The likes of Anderson Julio, Diego Luna, Braian Ojeda, Bryan Oviedo, Danny Musovski, and Rubio Rubin could all potentially see big minutes for the first time in a while.
Earlier in the year, RSL bettered Austin 2-1 at home following a last-minute worldie from Andrew Brody who picked out the top corner in the 88th minute against a 10-men Austin outfit.
Match Info
Kickoff is slated for 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, September 14, and will be available to stream for free via the KSL Sports and KSL 5 TV apps or on KSL Sports dot com.
