The Vancouver Whitecaps will try to snap a seven-match winless run when they face Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday.
The Caps are coming off successive 2-2 draws against the Seattle Sounders and Dallas, while Salt Lake are winless in their last three fixtures after losing 1-0 last Saturday to Los Angeles FC.
Match preview
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When you think the Whitecaps have finally turned the corner, something seems to happen that ruins a solid game.
That was the case on Sunday for Marc Dos Santos and his team, who were up 2-1, heading into the fourth minute of injury time against the Toros when an own-goal from centre-back Ranko Veselinovic saw them squander another two points.
That was not only the second straight match where they gave up a second-half lead, but it was also the fourth time this season that they had conceded a goal in stoppage time.
Vancouver have hung in there and kept their matches close despite being dead last in the Western Conference, but they have continuously failed to create enough quality scoring chances and have been outshot in five of their previous seven games.
With only nine points from their opening 11 fixtures, Vancouver will take any positives they can, and they have won their only two games of the season in their temporary home in Salt Lake City, where they will play their next three matches.
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All season long, Claret and Cobalt have been relying on the individual brilliance of Rubio Rubin and Damir Kreilach to get by, and lately that workload seems to have gotten to be too much for them to handle, with Salt Lake now on the outside of the Western Conference playoff race, two points behind the Houston Dynamo.
With six of their next seven games against teams above them in the west, it will be paramount that Freddy Juarez and his team get other players to step up if they are to keep pace in the conference and earn their first post season berth since 2019.
Last Saturday, Salt Lake led in virtually every statistical category, except the one that counts, the scoreboard, as they allowed only one shot on target to LAFC, but still lost 1-0.
That was the second game where they had 58% of the possession, but once again, they failed to make it count, although it has not been without trying as they have fired 13 shots on target over the past two games but have only scored once.
Perhaps the good news for Salt Lake is that they have five more games to play this month, which means they do not have time to dwell on their past failures, with another match quickly on the horizon.
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Team News
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The lengthy visa situation for Whitecaps defender Ali Adnan has ended with the club deciding to terminate his contract.
Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who made a season-high six saves against Dallas, will be joining the Canadian national team for the Gold Cup, along with his teammate, striker Lucas Cavallini.
Defender Andy Rose scored his second goal of the season last weekend, while Bruno Gaspar continues to struggle with injuries.
Freddy Juarez will be pleased to know that the upcoming Gold Cup will not impact his lineup as no one from his roster has been selected to play at that tournament.
Defender Toni Datkovic and Jonathan Menendez are still awaiting their immigration to the US and may not be available for this match.
Defender Zack Farnsworth, goalkeeper Andrew Putna and forward Jeizon Ramirez all missed the match on Saturday with injuries.
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Hasal; Gutierrez, Rose, Veselinovic, Godoy; Bikel; Caicedo, Teibert, Owusu, Dajome; White
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
Ochoa; Herrera, Glad, Holt, Brody; Ruiz, Besler; Luiz, Kreilach, Rusnak; Rubin
We say: Vancouver Whitecaps 0-2 Real Salt Lake
No matter how hard they try, the Vancouver Whitecaps cannot seem to buy a win, and they will be hard-pressed to get a victory without their star goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau and striker Lucas Cavallini.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Vancouver Whitecaps win with a probability of 39.41%. A win for Real Salt Lake had a probability of 33.7% and a draw had a probability of 26.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Vancouver Whitecaps win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.69%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.4%) and 2-0 (7.03%). The likeliest Real Salt Lake win was 0-1 (9.72%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.77%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood.
