San Jose Earthquakes vs Real Salt Lake 28/07/20

28 July 2020

San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake go head-to-head at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the MLS play-offs round of 16.

The hosts finished top of Group B without a single loss (W2, D1) and a +3 goal difference (GF: 6, GA: 3) despite failing to take the lead in the first half in each of those games (HT: D2, L1). The ‘Quakes’ have been particularly dangerous in the attacking third after the break, scoring five of their six goals since the restart in the second half of play. But, San Jose have failed to pick up a win in their last four competitive home matches (D1, L3), with three of those matches featuring over 2.5 goals and both teams score. That’s a sharp contrast to their recent home fortunes against Real Salt Lake, though. San Jose won four of the last five such H2Hs (D1), each by a single-goal margin.

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, endured mixed fortunes in Group D (W1, D1, L1), with none of those fixtures seeing over 2.5 goals nor both teams find the net. Curiously, both of their results (win/loss) across that three-game sequence saw the winner on the day win both halves to nil and score at least once inside the opening and closing 30 minutes of play. However, a genuine lack of firepower up front has seen Salt Lake draw a blank in three of their last four trips, friendlies included (D1, L3). In turn, they’ve bagged under 1.5 goals in each of their four previous competitive H2Hs (W1, D2, L1).