Real Salt Lake will attempt to win back-to-back home games for the first time this season when they welcome the San Jose Earthquakes to America First Field on Saturday.

The visitors, meanwhile, have not lost in their previous four outings and will be aiming to keep that unbeaten run intact here.

Match preview

A late strike from Bernard Kamungo in the 88th minute denied Real Salt Lake from gaining a point on their travels last time out, as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat away at FC Dallas.

The defeat leaves Pablo Mastroeni's side in 12th place in the Western Conference, picking up six points from their seven Major League Soccer outings so far.

However, Mastroeni will be looking ahead for his side, as RSL end the month of April with back-to-back home games, starting with this weekend's clash against San Jose before the visit of the Seattle Sounders on April 29.

In their most recent outing at America First Field, RSL picked up their first home win of the season in style as they fought back from behind to claim a resounding 3-1 victory over Charlotte FC.

After trailing at half time, Mastroeni's side upped the ante at the Rio Tinto Stadium as Pablo Ruiz, Anderson Julio and Jefferson Savarino scored second-half goals to complete a remarkable comeback.

Meanwhile, San Jose have 14 points after eight matches under the guidance of Luchi Gonzalez, their best start to a campaign since accumulating that exact total at this stage of the 2016 season.

The Quakes cruised to a 3-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City last time out, courtesy of a strike from Cristian Espinoza, as well as a brace from Jeremy Ebobisse.

That victory leaves San Jose in fifth place in the Western Conference, which will be unfamiliar territory to Quakes fans, who have not seen their team finish higher than eighth in the Western Conference table since 2018.

Confidence will be high in the Goonies' camp, who have only suffered one defeat in their last seven matches. However, the Earthquakes are yet to taste victory on the road after sharing the spoils with New York Red Bulls in their most recent away outing as well as losing at Atlanta United and St Louis City.

Team News

Bryan Oviedo has recently been suffering from a calf injury, but he returned to the matchday squad for a place on the bench against Dallas, so he could feature from the first whistle here.

Danny Musovski had also missed the visitors' last two outings through an ankle injury, but he returned to action from the substitutes' bench last time out.

Erik Holt picked up an injury following March's game against Austin FC, and the 26-year-old is set to sit out his fifth consecutive game.

As for the visitors, Jeremy Ebobisse will retain his place up front after recording a brace in San Jose's most recent encounter, while Niko Tsakiris has an adductor issue and Nathan is recovering from his ACL surgery.

Cade Cowell may also miss out this weekend, after being called up to the United States men's national team for their friendly against Mexico.

Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Brody, Glad, Farnsworth, Vera; Gomez, Loffelsend, Ruiz, Savarino; Julio, Rubin

San Jose Earthquakes possible starting lineup:
Marcinkowski; Akapo, Mensah, Rodrigues, Marie; Yueill, Gruezo, Monteiro; Espinoza, Bouda, Ebobisse

We say: Real Salt Lake 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes

We think that San Jose will extend their unbeaten run here, and also claim their first away win of the season.

The Quakes look much improved in virtually every aspect of their game early on, while RSL have only won once at home all season, and despite it being a resounding victory, we think it could be a one-off.

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