Scouting the Competition: Real Salt Lake

On Friday, KC Soccer Journal Managing Editor, Thad Bell, and Wasatch Soccer Sentinel Editor-in-Chief, Matt Montgomery, exchanged questions about today’s Sporting Kansas City game against Real Salt Lake. Matt’s answer to our questions are below and Thad’s answers to his questions are over at their site.

And if that’s not enough for you, check out my preview of RSL versus Sporting KC.

Preview: Sporting KC on the Road at Real Salt Lake

How is the Health of Real Salt Lake?

• Eneli out medium-to-long-term
• Piol out for season
• Wolff, Hezarkhani out, unclear on return
• Yedlin, Booth, Henry, Arias all ‘questionable’

(For a full injury report, the KC Soccer Journal has you covered).

Who on RSL is having the best Season?

It’s almost certainly Zavier Gozo, who’s been really good — others include [new Designated Player Morgan] Guilavogui has come in and looked good, [Noel] Caliskan has been solid in the midfield, and [defender Juan Manuel] Sanabria has been extremely promising in the first couple of matches.

Who is someone under the radar Sporting KC fans should look out for?

Diego Luna? Ha, kidding. Morgan Guilavogui was a big signing for RSL fans but won’t have drawn much attention outside RSL. With Aiden Hezarkhani out, he’s the next up that’s a bit under the radar.

What would be your Predicted Starting XI?

Probably something like this—

Cabral
Quinton (Yedlin if fit), Glad, Engel
Gozo, Spierings, Caliskan, Sanabria
Luna, Olatunji, Guilavogui

Be sure to check out more of Matt and his colleague’s work over at the Wasatch Soccer Sentinel. Here are a few stories/podcasts worth your time.

• Sporting KC/Real Salt Lake preview from their perspective
• Off the Crossbar — their RSL podcast
• Their recap of the 2-2 draw with San Diego FC

For more coverage of all things soccer around MLS and the NWSL, the KC Soccer Journal has a page dedicated to independent coverage in the country, with links to all of their sites.