Major League Soccer is back in our lives for yet another season of action across North America. We’re in the early stages of the new campaign but there’s already so much to get excited about from West to East, as the majority of teams gear up for a hopeful run to the MLS Cup. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what promises to be an intriguing clash between Vancouver Whitecaps and Real Salt Lake.
Vancouver Form GuideVancouver did a solid job of getting into the playoffs with a sixth place finish in the Western Conference. From there, they earnt a meeting with Los Angeles in the first round, but they bowed out in pretty convincing fashion. Despite such a setback, they’ve still got the kind of infrastructure necessary to make some noise in the weeks and months ahead - and we’re intrigued to see how they perform.
Vancouver opened up their season with a 1-1 draw at home to Charlotte, but from there, they’ve been able to kick on and really find themselves. They took on San Jose and Dallas on the road, registering big wins in both games to make themselves the early benchmark in the west.
Salt Lake Form GuideIn terms of the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake did a solid job of making their way up the table and earning a spot in the playoffs. When they got there, though, there were beaten by Houston in the first round, in a three-game series that saw two matches go to penalties. They have potential, and it’ll be interesting to see how they bounce back this time around.
Salt Lake started off with a 2-0 loss on the road to Inter Miami, and then in another trip, this time to St Louis, they drew 1-1. Their first win came in a 3-0 win at home to Los Angeles, before they slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Colorado.
Match PredictionBoth of these teams have players who can cause problems in the final third and it’s exciting to consider what both could put forward when they collide this weekend. In terms of a prediction, we’re going to shoot for over 2.5 goals scored, and we think that’s still quite conservative.
