Real Salt Lake at LA Galaxy
June 9, 2018; StubHub Center
8:30 p.m. MT; KMYU, KSL.com, KSL app
Player to Watch – Few people have taken the league by storm the way Zlatan Ibrahimovic did when he joined up with the LA Galaxy. Everywhere you turned, the Swedish star – formerly of Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG and Manchester United – was on the screen. From national television and radio interviews to comedy bits and seemingly everything in between. And of course, he’s bringing the goods on the field. And while he may have slowed from his breakneck pace that he opened with, he still has five goals and three assists and is a threat to do something magical with every touch of the ball.
Matchup to Watch – Emmanuel Boateng vs. Brooks Lennon. Sometimes certain matchups work to the benefit of one player or another the way no other matchup does. That was the case with Boateng and Real Salt Lake through last May. Now in his third MLS season, the first 18 months of his MLS career saw Boateng score three goals against RSL and none against any other team. He now has seven career goals in MLS and while his scoring isn’t solely reserved for matches against Salt Lake, he is still a dangerous threat with his speed up the wings and ability to finish a first-time shot with placement and power.
All-Time Record – RSL is 13-14-9 against LA, all-time and looks to even the regular season series on Saturday. That record includes a 7-10-2 mark at StubHub Center after RSL went 1-0-1 in the Carson, California, stadium last season. We all remember the 6-2 thrashing on July 4 and Kyle Beckerman’s late heroics in the closing weeks of the season.
Last 5 Head-to-Head – RSL is 1-2-2 in the last five matches against LA, with both clubs scoring big wins at StubHub Center. As mentioned, RSL won 6-2 last summer, but the Galaxy also took a 5-2 result in April of 2016.
Last 5 Overall – LA is 2-2-1 in the last five matches, breaking out of a four-game losing skid to earn points in three of the last four matches.
