Preview: Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids - prediction, team news, lineups

The away side, on the other hand, head to Utah this weekend aiming to get their league campaign up and running at the third time of asking.

Match preview

Real Salt Lake cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the expense of Los Angeles FC when the two sides went head to head on Saturday evening.

Pablo Mastroeni's men made a fast start to the clash and raced to a three-goal lead thanks to two goals from Andres Gomez and a Cristian Arango strike in first-half stoppage time.

As a result, the Claret and Cobalt have moved up to the fourth place in the Western Conference of the MLS table, level on points with leaders Portland Timbers.

Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who are without a victory in the last seven editions of this fixture since October 2021.

Off the back of four straight home wins leading up to Sunday's affair, the hosts are flying in front of their fans and will certainly take some stopping this weekend.

Colorado Rapids had to settle for a share of the spoils following a 1-1 stalemate against Nashville SC at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Sunday.

Chris Armas's men opened the deadlock thanks to Shaquell Moore's own goal in the early exchanges of the second half before Teal Bunbury restored parity from 12 yards in the final minute of normal time.

With just one point picked up from their two league matches so far, the Pids currently sit bottom but one in the Western Conference standings.

Having shipped nine goals across their last three away involvements, Sunday's visitors will be wary of being on the receiving end of another drubbing on the road.

Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer form:

L

W

L

L

D

W

Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer form:

W

L

D

L

L

D

Team News

Real Salt Lake's Jose Bonilla misses out through a knee problem, while defender Alexandros Katranis continues to battle with an ankle injury.

Paraguay international Braian Ojeda also misses out for the hosts as he serves a one-game suspension as a result of his red card against Los Angeles.

Andres Gomez's double in the aforementioned match saw him end a lengthy goal drought and the midfielder will be looking to pick up where he left off.

Colorad's Jasper Loffelsend will be hoping to make his season debut this weekend having had to settle for a place on the bench in his side's opening two games.

Rafael Navarro has failed to replicate his pre-season goalscoring form so far but the 23-year-old is expected to lead the line for the visitors.

Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:

MacMath; Brody, Glad, Silva, Hidalgo; Eneli, Palacio; Gomez, Crooks, Luna; Arango

Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:

Steffen; Vines, Maxso, Bombito, Rosenberry; Ronan, Larraz; Harris, Bassett, Mihailovic; Navarro

We say: Real Salt Lake 2-1 Colorado Rapids

Real Salt Lake have dominated this fixture to a large degree of late and have the psychological edge heading into this one. We can see the home side coming away with all three points, albeit by only a narrow margin.

Previews by email