Match Preview - Real Salt Lake
Game Info
Kickoff: 8:40pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: America First Field - Sandy, UT
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 3W-3D-5L record against Real Salt Lake.
The most memorable of those three ATX victories is from the Verde and Black’s first ever postseason match, where they battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to advance in penalty kicks after Emiliano Rigoni sent a shot into an opposing arm inside the box, allowing Sebastián Driussi a chance from the spot to equalize in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time.
Since that historical day for Austin FC, this matchup hasn’t been as rosy for the good guys, as the boys from Salt Lake have taken 11 of the 15 available points in this head-to-head series dating back to the summer of the 2023 season. The last time Austin and RSL met up was on September 27th, 2025, a game that Austin punted in favor of preparing for their US Open Cup final that was scheduled a mere four days later.
Real Salt Lake Recent Form
Through three games on the young season, Real Salt Lake has accumulated six points via a home win over Seattle and a road victory over Atlanta United, with a total five goals for and four conceded. While that’s not the most eye-popping start, when further context is provided, it is quite an impressive beginning to the 2026 season. Other than Austin FC, Real Salt Lake may be the most beat up team in the league at the moment, as they have been without their best player in midfielder Diego Luna, starting forward Victor Olatunji, U22 Initiative striker Ariath Piol, midfielder Emeka Eneli, and full back Deandre Yedlin.
That’s nearly half of what head coach Pablo Mastroeni’s choice XI would be, but they’ve found a way to string results together. The early success has come from some excellent work produced at the Salt Lake BOY FACTORY.
USYNT stud Zavier Gozo (18), forward Aiden Hezarkhani (18), and midfielder Luca Moisa (17) have blown expectations out of the water and are major reasons why Real Salt Lake has not only weathered the early season injury storm, but excelled during these prolonged absences from some of the team’s best players.
All three former academy players have impacted winning in different ways. Hezarkhani has scored twice this season and Gozo has a goal and an assist to his name, while Moisa has found success in his defensive midfield position.
This young roster will be in stark contrast to what we’re familiar with here in Austin. Real Salt Lake moved on from DPs Ruan Cruz and Diogo Goncalves this past offseason, opening two DP slots during the past transfer window. Additional departures included MLS veteran Johnny Russell, striker Willie Agada, and maybe most importantly, midfielder Braian Ojeda, who is now with Orlando City SC.
Go take a look at the lineup they rolled out in last week’s win over Atlanta United (as we did on Wednesday’s preview episode) and tell me how many names you recognize. At least for us, it’s not many!
While unable to pick up any points on Matchday 1, Salt Lake played a top tier Vancouver team tough for 90 minutes. Ultimately, they dropped the match 1-0, but they created opportunities and were very competitive throughout. The following week, the “Claret & Cobalt” defeated Seattle Sounders by generating plenty of dangerous opportunities, putting two past goalkeeper Andrew Thomas to secure their first home win of the season. Last week, they burst out of the gates to put three goals on the board in the first 40 minutes on the road and then held off a late comeback from what appears to be a crappy-but-talented Atlanta United team.
While the sample size is small, one thing has remained constant in RSL’s first three games, and that is they do not want to possess the ball much. Checking in with just 39.3% possession (good for third to last in MLS thus far), RSL has utilized their youthful speed on the counter to catch opposing defenses off guard. With Gozo dominating the right side of the field, Salt Lake has been able to stretch opposing back lines with a focus on direct play when they do find themselves in possession. To pick one passage of play to illustrate just how dangerous they’ve been, the goal that opened the scoring in the Atlanta match started in RSL’s own 18 yard box. In just 13 seconds, Atlanta was picking the ball out of their net.
Defensively, Salt Lake has been staying compact and forcing opposing offenses to really have to work to break them down. They’ll concede ground and allow their opponents plenty of time to take the air out of the ball. Adding to the effectiveness of that approach is the fact that Rafael Cabral, the team’s 34-year old starting keeper, is off to an excellent start. He’s currently tops in the league according to ASA’s model in G-xG, one of the more reliable metrics we have when it comes to measuring shot stopping ability. He’s currently sitting at -2.24 xG, which indicates he’s kept a little over two expected goals out of the net and off the scoreboard through just three games.
Mastroeni is pulling the right strings with the makeshift units he’s been forced to roll out and this team is playing with a lot of confidence and freedom right now. The infusion of their apparently fearless academy players has brought a renewed confidence about how high this side can go once they get fully healthy. That time may be drawing near for RSL, as both Luna and Olatunji were upgraded to questionable for the first time this season ahead of Saturday’s match.
Austin FC Recent Form
ZG and I did our best to purge ourselves and The North End faithful of the seething anger we all experienced after watching Austin FC get robbed of a chance to compete in Charlotte last week.
We usually try to avoid putting too much blame on the officials, but make no mistake about it, the chance to earn a result was stolen from the Verde and Black by the absolutely embarrassing display of officiating by Rosendo Mendoza and the VAR crew assigned to this match. I am by no means suggesting that Austin was guaranteed to win or even draw that game if the number of controversial calls had been made correctly, but it was the opportunity to do so that was ripped away and ultimately what drove our frustrations on Episode 289. It’s unfortunate, but also a part of sports. Sometimes, the referee is terrible and they dictate the outcome of the game.
Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way…
There was not a lot to take away from the team’s performance last week from a tactical standpoint, especially offensively. Once Biro was sent off, the plan was scrapped and a more defensive posture had to be taken. Jayden Nelson (according to head coach Nico Estévez) requested a sub due to tightness in his hamstring and was subbed off. That move, paired with being down a man all but sealed Austin’s fate.
I will give credit where credit is due and say that Austin fought hard for the full 90 minutes on Saturday. The fact that the game was tied until the 68th minute (thanks to a Charlotte blunder at the back) was impressive and a testament to a team that did not quit, rather one that was overwhelmed by tired legs after more than an hour of playing with ten men.
That type of fight and spirit is something positive to take from this game, because it does display that this team has strong character early in the year. Would I rather have three points? Of course. But, I can confidently say that I can check off a few of the "intangible" boxes that every high-quality team needs to exemplify throughout the course of a long season.
Austin has, like many teams, truly struggled playing in the elevation of Utah. In fact, Austin FC has only ever brought points home from a match in Sandy on one occasion, a 2-1 victory back on March 11th, 2023. That’s enough of a sample size to understand that this is not friendly waters for our boys.
As I mentioned above, Austin and RSL are two of the more injured teams in the league at the moment, with both clubs missing multiple key contributors. I think it would be simple to say that RSL has weathered the storm a bit better than Austin, but who knows how we could be feeling about Austin right now if the officiating played out differently last Saturday? Last time I bring it up, I promise!
Next man up has to be the mentality going into this contest, one that I deemed was a “must-win” game on Wednesday’s preview episode. That’s two lever pulls in the first four weeks! I might need to slow down a bit, but let me explain myself.
After this game, Austin welcomes the LAFC juggernaut to Q2. You’d be hard-pressed to convince me that Austin can win that game with the players we expect to be missing. Following that buzzsaw is a trip after the international break to Miami where Messi and Co. will be opening up their brand new stadium. I’m already on record saying that’s a guaranteed loss, much to ZG’s dismay. Without three points here against RSL, and if Estradamus is correct, you’d be sitting on either four or five points from your first six games. Can’t wait for the discourse if that comes to pass!
Take into account that it looks like Brandon Vazquez, Dani Pereira, and potentially Owen Wolff could miss all three of the upcoming games, Austin is likely to end up in a challenging spot in the table as the calendar progresses through March and April.
Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, but I think the cause for concern is valid when all context is accounted for. Arguably the funniest thing about my opinion there is that I think the team has played quite well so far this season given the circumstances. One lapse versus Minnesota, albeit while an Austin player (Taylor) was hobbling along the sideline, cost the team two points in a game where they were clearly the better team on the night. The debacle in Charlotte meant zero points and left an already short-handed team in a more dire situation.
All that aside, Austin has enough to win this game in Salt Lake. It’s going to take some grit and maybe some luck, but with Myrto Uzuni, Facundo Torres, and presumably Nelson on the attack, the team has the horses to win this race.
Injury Report
This is an estimate until the league releases official injury reports on Friday afternoon.
ATX:
Mikkel Desler (Questionable - Groin)
Jayden Nelson (Probable - Hamstring)
Guilherme Biro (Out - Red Card Suspension)
Dani Pereira (Out - Hamstring)
Robert Taylor (Out - Knee)
Owen Wolff (Out - Sports Hernia)
Brandon Vazquez (Out - Knee)
RSL:
Diego Luna (Questionable - Knee)
Victor Olatunji (Questionable - Eye)
Kobi Henry (Questionable - Hamstring)
DeAndre Yedlin (Out - Hamstring)
Emeka Eneli (Out - Knee)
Tyler Wolff (Out - Shoulder)
Juan Jose Arias (Out - Groin)
Ari Piol (Out - Achilles)
real Salt Lake Players to Watch
Morgan Guilavogui - The 28 year old attacker has looked very good in limited minutes to start the season. Despite playing just 100 minutes so far, Guilavogui leads the team in xG and pops off the screen when he has the ball at his feet. The Guinean is an uber-versatile attacking player and can line up on either wing as well as up top. He was transferred from RC Lens in Ligue 1 in France for about $6 million this offseason. At 6’2”, Guilavogui is formidable in the air, while possessing elite-for-MLS talent with the ball at his feet. He is going to be a handful for Jonny G over on that right side of the back line. Watching him to start the season gives me the feeling like Guilavogui is inevitably about to break onto the scene in a big way in this league.
Zavier Gozo - The 18-year old is off to a torrid start and one of the main reasons RSL has weathered this injury bug they are dealing with right now. Gozo, an RSL academy product, has burst onto the scene with his impressive play early on. Another versatile weapon for Mastroeni, Gozo has great speed and is consistently flying up and down the right side of the field from his current right wing back position. He initiates the offense and moves well without the ball. He’s going to be a handful this weekend.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Find A Way - This is a battle between two clubs not even remotely close to full strength, so Austin has no excuse in my book to not come out and compete with this RSL side, even on the road in the elevation. While the elements will be against the team, they have to find a way to get three points here. With daunting matchups looming in the following three weeks, it’s imperative to handle business in a game that is very winnable. I’m looking to the two designated players, Uzuni and Facu Torres, to put the team on their backs in this one. These are veteran players with experience at some of the highest levels in the world, when you’re in that role you have to show why you’re a “special” talent and impact this game as much as possible.
Predictions
ZG - 1-1 Draw
E - 1-0 Austin FC
