Chicago, Real Salt Lake Seek Momentum In Saturday MLS Action

A pair of teams that need to start winning games go at it on Saturday as the Chicago Fire host Real Salt Lake at SeatGeek Stadium. Chicago is currently tied with Orlando City for 9th place in the Eastern Conference with 18 points and both squads are 1 point back of Toronto for 7th place and the final playoff spot. Real Salt Lake currently has a tenuous hold on the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They’re in 7th place but tied with San Jose at 19 points. They’re also just one point up on the 9th place Vancouver Whitecaps.

RSL checks in with 3 wins in their last 5 MLS games though they have lost two straight dropping a 4-0 decision to the New York Red Bulls and a 2-1 verdict to the Montreal Impact, both on the road. RSL has played poorly on the road this season but a bigger problem is that they haven’t played well enough at home to compensate. At Rio Tinto they’re 4-0-2 with 11 goals scored and 8 conceded. Away from home, they’re 2-1-6 with 10 goals for and 19 against. RSL will benefit from their home field more as the schedule progresses since after this fixture they will have played four more games away than at home.

Chicago’s season has been the proverbial ‘good news/bad news’ situation. The good news is that they’ve lost only once at home this season with a record of 4-3-1 scoring 17 goals and conceding only 8. The bad news has been their play away from home where they’re winless on the season going 0-3-5 scoring 7 goals and conceding 15. The Fire are 1-2-2 in their last five games in MLS competition.

This looks like a matchup that we can play simply by looking at the home/away disparity between the teams. The MLS soccer odds have the home team installed as a strong favorite and that’s no doubt justified–particularly given RSL’s poor play on the road. They’ve been especially porous on defense and have earned only 1 clean sheet in their past 15 road contests.

BET CHICAGO FIRE -189 OVER REAL SALT LAKE

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