Real Salt Lake vs Sporting Kansas City Prediction: Hosts to earn three points

Another MLS match will take place on July 18 at Rio Tinto Stadium where Real Salt Lake will take on Sporting Kansas City at 04:30 (UTC+3).

Real Salt Lake is a relatively experienced team that has been around since 2004. During this time, the Red and Blues have twice reached the finals of the MLS Cup: in 2009 they managed to win, and in 2013 they lost. Last season they managed to reach the playoffs, but stopped already in the first cup round. Pablo Mastroeni's charges started the current championship quite well, but now in four games in a row they cannot win, having played twice in a draw and two defeats. Their losing streak dropped them to fifth place in the standings, but the battle to make the playoffs still rages on for them.

Sporting Kansas City is an even older team, which appeared in 1995, winning the MLS Cup twice: in 2000 and 2013. Last season, the Blues also performed well, reaching the conference semifinals. Though now it will be extremely difficult to repeat that sucess, as they are failing in the current championship. In 21 games, Peter Vermes's players scored only five wins against five draws and 11 losses. Of course, that poor showing would leave Sporting Kansas City in last place in the standings, with little chance of making the playoffs.

The teams played 39 head-to-head encounters in the MLS. The Red and Blue have won 16 games, the Blues have been stronger in 13, and ten more have ended in a tie. Goal difference also favors the home team in the upcoming game, 51-49. This season, the rivals have met once, and then the victory was celebrated by the players of Sporting Kansas City, 1-0.

Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City have different ways of the current regular season. While the Red and Blue continue to move up the leaderboard, albeit recently at a slightly slower pace, the Blue are currently sitting in the bottom of the Western Conference standings with only a slim chance of success. Of course, Pablo Mastroeni's charges are the favorites to win the game, and they'll need to play at home against the underdog. As a result, we should bet on the victory of Real Salt Lake at odds of about 1.85.

The opposition between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City is characterized by a very modest performance by the standards of MLS. In their six previous encounters, the opponents combined for only 13 goals (2.17 average per game), which in and of itself is a reason to take a closer look at the bookmaker's under line. Moreover, the teams are approaching the encounter not in the best condition, so we can hardly count on a bright and attacking soccer, the opponents will focus on defense. On this basis, the best option seems to be Total Under 2.5 goals at odds close to 1.85.

Jefferson Savarino is a forward who a few years ago already played for Real Salt Lake, but then he moved to the championship of Brazil, where he played for Atletico Madrid. Recently, the Venezuelan decided to return to the MLS. In the six meetings he played for the Red and Blue he has already registered three goals and two assists, which means that on the average he makes almost one effective action per game. Obviously, the 25-year-old forward is in good form, so it is worth looking at a bet on Jefferson Savarino's goal at odds of about 3.40.

Our prediction: Real Salt Lake win at odds of 1.86 at 22bet.

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