Vancouver Whitecaps vs Real Salt Lake 11/10/20

11 October 2020

Two out-of-sorts teams will face off against each other at BC Place, as Vancouver Whitecaps take on Real Salt Lake in the MLS Western Conference lower-half-of-the-table clash.

The hosts take the field after suffering four consecutive league defeats, failing to find the back of the net in three and conceding over 2.5 goals in as many. As a result, they are now four points adrift of ninth-placed Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference. Interestingly, though, the ‘Whitecaps’ go into this round as the only side on the west yet to play out a draw this season (W5, L11). But, they are also the only team yet to smash a 20-goal barrier, although they’ve registered the majority (66.67%) of their league goals scored so far on home turf (12/18). The one thing Vancouver will need to avoid is allowing the opener, as they’ve lost all ten of their MLS games in which they conceded first.

Meanwhile, only two sides in both Conferences have netted fewer first-half goals than Real Salt Lake (3), which, however, represents a clear minority (14.29%) of their 21 MLS goals scored overall. It’s, therefore, not strange that they’ve conceded the opening goal in 66.67% of their top-flight trips this term (4/6). Moreover, a trip to Vancouver has often proved daunting in the recent past, as the ‘Claret and Cobalt’ had suffered six consecutive away H2Hs as visitors before claiming a narrow 1-0 win last time out. Things get worse for Freddy Juarez’s side, knowing they’ve shipped over 1.5 goals in three of their previous four away MLS fixtures (D2, L2).