Raphael Durand
Dailysports's expert
One of the MLS regular season clashes between Real Salt Lake and St. Louis City will take place on July 6 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. I'm offering a bet on the outcome of this encounter with an attractive odds.
Match preview
Real Salt Lake is enduring a highly disappointing season, with the team at risk of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2020. After finishing third in the West last year and suffering a first-round exit at the hands of Minnesota, expectations were high, but reality has been harsher — just 5 wins in 19 matches and the league’s second-worst attack (19 goals). The lack of consistency is especially glaring: solid performances alternate with collapses, and the underlying issue is squad depth.
Nevertheless, Pablo Mastroeni’s side is fighting for results at home: all three wins and four clean sheets this season have come in Utah. Their hopes for points once again rest on a compact defense and efficiency when holding a lead. The absences are significant — Diego Luna is away with the US national team, and several other squad players are missing—but Johnny Russell and Diogo Gonçalves are capable of sparking the attack.
St. Louis City is in even deeper trouble — bottom of the Western Conference and on a four-game winless run. The second act of their fairy tale after their 2023 expansion season, when they topped the conference, has turned into a nightmare: just one win in their last 12 games. The sacking of Olof Mellberg and appointment of David Critchley brought a brief boost, but the team has slipped again, losing five consecutive road games.
The team faces systemic issues both in attack and defense. This is especially apparent away from home — over their last eight away matches, they haven’t recorded a single win, conceding at least twice in each of the last five. Injuries to key players — Alm, Nilsson, and Morelos — only make matters worse. Even a draw in Salt Lake City would be seen as a success, but the head-to-head history and current form hardly support that hope.
Probable lineups
- Real Salt Lake: Cabral; Caliskan, Glad, Junqua, Katranis; Palacio, Ruiz; Gonçalves, Gozo, Russell; Agade
- St. Louis City: Bürki; Totland, Hebert, Reid, Watts; Vällem, Hartel; Pompeu, Ostrák, Becher; Klauss
Match facts and head-to-head
- All 3 Real Salt Lake wins and 4 clean sheets this season have come at home.
- St. Louis has lost 5 straight away matches and hasn't won on the road since early spring.
- Last season, Salt Lake beat St. Louis at home 3-1.
Prediction
Both teams are going through tough times, but Real Salt Lake at least shows signs of life at home — this is where they earn points and keep things tight at the back. For St. Louis, everything is falling apart: a string of losses, a weakened lineup, and a lack of confidence. Given the hosts’ home form and the visitors’ dreadful away streak, expect a home win at 1.76 odds in a low-scoring affair.
