Wasatch Soccer Sentinel

Real Salt Lake are home again, this time they host their oldest rival, the Colorado Rapids. It's the first contest of the 2024 Rocky Mountain Cup, and RSL will want to secure a home win and show that their winning ways aren't weather dependant.

The last game

RSL’s last game was anything but normal. It was delayed by over two hours due to wind and dust, then played for 3 minutes before lightning caused a half hour delay, and by the time the game resumed, it was a full-on snow blizzard. RSL did manage to beat LAFC 3-0. A massive result given LAFC’s historical dominance in past games. But with the snow being such a massive factor, it’s difficult to draw any real conclusions other than RSL were able to fight through the conditions and LA were not.

Making up for lost players

RSL are out a number of key players for this game. Pablo Ruiz being out for the season is far and away the greatest loss. Ruiz just returned from a season-ending injury that he suffered in 2023. He went on to play in 3 games before tearing his ACL in training this week.

Justen Glad is listed as questionable for this game. Without Glad, we will see Marcelo Silva and Brayan Vera start at CB. Holt is likely the next man up after those two.