Preview: Sporting KC to host rivals Real Salt Lake on Saturday

A fierce Western Conference rivalry resumes Saturday when Sporting Kansas City (3-1-3, 12 points) hosts Real Salt Lake (2-4-2, 8 points) at Children’s Mercy Park. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT with three hours of live television coverage beginning at 7 p.m. on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus.

Viewers who receive the primary FOX Sports Kansas City channel in their cable package will also be able to watch Saturday’s match live on FOX Sports Go. Additional in-game updates will be provided via the Sporting KC Uphoria app, while radio broadcasts will air live on ESPN 99.3 FM (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).

Tickets for Saturday’s showdown are available at SeatGeek.com, and the first 10,000 fans through the gates at Children’s Mercy Park will receive a free Sporting KC koozie courtesy of match sponsor Park University. Supporters are encouraged to stay in their seats after the match for a Special Olympics Unified Soccer exchange game between athletes from Special Olympics Kansas City and Special Olympics Utah.

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Both teams enter the matchup riding favorable albeit dissimilar unbeaten streaks. Sporting Kansas City is one result shy of setting a new club record for the longest home unbeaten streak in regular season club history. Manager Peter Vermes’ men are 9-0-3 over their last 12 MLS matches at Children’s Mercy Park, posting six shutouts during the stretch while outscoring opponents 26-10.

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, hasn’t lost to Sporting KC in seven straight regular season meetings, collecting four wins and three draws ever since suffering defeat in the epic 2013 MLS Cup final at Children’s Mercy Park. The Claret and Cobalt own two wins and two draws in each of their last four regular season visits to Kansas City, including a pair of victories last season. Sporting KC’s seven-game drought in the series is their longest active winless skid against any MLS opponent.

Sporting Kansas City took its first loss of 2017 last Saturday, succumbing to Maynor Figueroa’s late header in a 1-0 setback at FC Dallas. Tim Melia produced five saves to continue his excellent campaign, as the goalkeeper leads MLS with four shutouts while ranking second in both goals against average (0.43) and save percentage (82.1). Indeed, no team has allowed fewer goals this season than Sporting KC’s three — all conceded after the 76th minute.

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After laboring to an 0-3-2 start and parting ways with manager Jeff Cassar, Real Salt Lake has won two of its last three under new head coach Mike Petke. A 3-1 home loss to Atlanta United FC last weekend saw RSL go two goals behind before Designated Player Albert Rusnak halved the deficit in the 69th minute. A late bid for an equalizer fell short as Atlanta added a late third on the counter attack.

Real Salt Lake previously snapped an eight-game road winless spell with a 2-1 victory over Rocky Mountain rival Colorado Rapids on April 15. Former Kansas City striker Yura Movsisyan bagged his team-leading fourth goal of the year in the 85th minute before 19-year-old Brooks Lennon — on loan from English Premier League side Liverpool — completed the comeback with his first career MLS goal in the 88th minute. RSL notably has just one clean sheet in its last 35 regular season away games, going 8-24-3 over that period.

Injured striker Diego Rubio (ACL) remains the only absentee for Sporting KC, but Real Salt Lake’s injury report includes a whopping 10 players who could be sidelined on Saturday. Defender David Horst and forward Chad Barrett are certain to miss with knee injuries, while Justen Glad (knee), Tony Beltran (back), Aaron Maund (hamstring), Jordan Allen (quad) and veteran goalkeeper Nick Rimando (hamstring) are all questionable. Stephen Sunday (hamstring), Joao Plata (quad) and Chris Wingert (face) are listed as probable.