Real Salt Lake vs. LA Galaxy
September 1, 2018; Rio Tinto Stadium
8:00 p.m. MT; KMYU, KSL TV App, KSL.com
RSL (12-10-5, 41 points); LA (10-9-8, 38 points)
Player to Watch – Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been the biggest difference-maker for the Galaxy this season. The Swedish star has 16 goals and seven assists in just 20 matches this season and the club is 4-0-6 in his last 10 starts. Everything runs through him on the offensive side and for good reason. The former standout for such clubs as Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United has 499 career goals for club and country.
Matchup to Watch – Ibrahimovic scored two goals in the first meeting between the two clubs back in June, so how RSL’s back line responds the second time around will be key to RSL’s success this week. In addition, LA is likely to see the returns of Romain Allesandrini, Jonathan dos Santos and Giovani dos Santos after all three missed the last 2.5 matches to injury – Jona left the first of the three matches after just 34 minutes. Without that trio on the field, LA was outscored 8-3, tying against Colorado and LAFC at home while losing 5-0 to Seattle on the road.
All-Time Record – The Galaxy leads the all-time regular season series at 15-13-9, including a 3-0 win at StubHub Center in June. RSL is 6-4-7 at home against LA, though, and is 4-3-4 a Rio Tinto Stadium.
Last 5 Head-to-Head – RSL is 1-2-2 in the last five matches against the Galaxy, the lone victory coming in a 6-2 win at StubHub Center last season on July 4 that triggered a massive turnaround for Salt Lake that saw the club come within one point of a postseason berth.
Last 5 Overall – The Galaxy is winless in the last five matches at 0-2-3 and is 0-2-1 in the last three road matches.
