MLS: Minnesota United vs. Real Salt Lake City Preview, Odds, Prediction

Minnesota United and Real Salt Lake City meet on Sunday at the Allianz Field. United needs a win to stop the negative streak and boost their fragile morale. On the other side, Real Salt Lake is in a solid situation, sitting third in the West and posting results above all the projections. The two sides played a club-friendly game this year, which didn’t see any goals. Will another dull performance happen again or not, stay tuned and see.

Preview

Minnesota United (+100) delivered an upset in LA, beating Galaxy on the road, 2-3, which was their first win after four consecutive losses, three of them in the MLS. We are sure that even the most passionate die-hard fans couldn’t predict United’s win in LA, but Adrian Heath scored three goals in the opening 45 minutes and then kept the edge until the end.

United has enormous problems in the defense, and they are without a clean sheet for the latest dozen events. The reasons for that are various, starting with the injuries, and the inability of the available players to sync.

If they had a bit better defense, United would be in a much better position, as their attackers have solid productivity. In the last ten games, we’ve seen them deliver on nine occasions, so we might say they are pretty efficient.

Real Salt Lake (+250) lost only once in the previous six MLS games, and has two defeats over the most recent nine. The third position in the West is something that nobody expected for this crew, but as time goes by, Pablo Mastroeni and his boys are slowly convincing the analysts and the experts that what they do at the moment is not a lucky turn of events but a product of hard work and quality.

Real didn’t allow a single goal in three of the past four games, significantly improving the quality of performances in the back line. Regarding efficiency in the previous seven events, all but the latest against Columbus Crew, which ended 0-0, were with two or three goals.

When playing on the road, RSL is posting a bit poorer results, winning just one of the most recent seven outings. They couldn’t score in four of those road trips.

Latest News

Hassani Dotson, Romain Metanire, and Patrick Weah will be unavailable for this game for various injuries. Niko Hansen is injured too, and Joseph Rosales has a red-card suspension.

For RSL, Damir Kreilach is injured, the same as Zack Farnsworth and Bret Haisley.

Head to Head Games

During mid-February, Minnesota, and Real Salt Lake had a friendly game, which ended without goals. In the last competitive meeting, in April 2021, RSL was better in Minneapolis, 1-2.

Prediction

Both teams to score is our pick for this matchup. Minnesota’s attack is solid, and they deliver even against the best defenses in the league, but on the other side, the hosts have a disastrous back line, able to concede against an amateur unit. The odds on this suggestion are set at -125, which is bingo.

Pick: Both teams to score -125