Tonight August 17, 20019 LAFC will be in Sandy, Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium to take on their Western Conference foes Real Salt Lake. LAFC has already beaten twice this year, the first match being at Banc way back on March 23, with 2-1 regular season win. LAFC also faced Real Salt Lake on June 11, in the US Open Cup and won 3-0, in Utah. RSL currently sits 4th in the Western Conference with 40 points, currently in a playoff spot, with a goal differential of +6. Meanwhile LAFC currently is not only the 1st place club in the West, they are also leading the MLS, with 55 points, and an amazing goal differential of +40. If LAFC wins tonight they will surpass there point total from last season of 57 points. Those 57 points LAFC got last season was a MLS record for most points by a expansion club. LAFC can also clinch a playoff spot this evening, but let's not focus on that, because this club will be in the playoff, most likely as the number 1 seed in the league.
RSL in unbeaten in their last 6 league matches, in their last match they beat the Seattle Sounders 3-0, so this club should not be taken lightly even though LAFC, is 2-0, against them this season. And all us LAFC fans, know this is the club that ended our season last year, by winning a playoff game at the Banc. On a side note RSL fired their coach Mike Petke this past week, for reasons we will not get into today, but it was justified, that's all I say right now, because lets focus on this match. There's one player I'd really like to focus on, in this preview due to the respect I have for him and his amazing MLS career; Nick Rimando.
Nick Rimando started his MLS career way back in 2000, with the Miami Fusion (A team that contracted after the 2001 season along with the Tampa Bay Mutiny). Back then there was 12 clubs in the entire league, then from 2002-2004 there was only 10 clubs in the entire MLS, compared to 24 clubs now, with more clubs coming. Here are some stats of Nick Rimando, he pretty much has every record a goalkeeper can have in the MLS... 506 regular season appearances, 219 wins, 151 shutouts, 1679 saves. As a football (soccer) fan I have nothing but respect for Nick Rimando, I don't see anyone else breaking these records, this is his final season, as he will be retiring at the end of this season. With this being said, I believe he is the key to this match, when he's in the zone RSL is a tough club to beat. The key to winning this game is to get good quialty shots, but do not count Nick Rimando out, he's stat wise the best GK in MLS history. RSL has another long time MLS vet who has been around the same amount of time as Rimando and that's Kyle Beckerman, who also started out his career with the Miami Fusion (I actually own a Miami Fusion jersey, found it at Ross for $15 many many years ago. Beckerman is a MF, and is another player to keep your eye own, he doesn't stand out as much since he cut his dreads, but he can still set up goals, so don't leave him open.
Other players to keep an eye on for RSL are Albert Rusnak who leads the club with 9 goals, they also have Jefferson Savarino who leads the club 5 assists along with 6 goals of his own. Keep in mind RSL is fighting to stay in a very tight Western Conference playoff race, their 40 points are currently good for 4 place in the West, with Dallas being in 8th place with 36 points, just 4 points behind RSL.
As for LAFC we will see the usual lineup, one good thing is that Walker Zimmerman will be back after is yellow card suspension. Also we probably still will not see Brian Rodriguez in the line up of 18 being that the club is still working on his paper work to play in this country the same goes for Diego Palacios, who from last I heard is still in Ecudar. I also heard there will be around 300 LAFC supporters in Utah cheering on our boys. For a lot of us, myself included we will be at viewing parties, I will be with the Empire Boys at Jerseys in Corona. If your looking for a watch party just check all SGs social media accounts, there are watch parties all over the Los Angeles area. Alright everyone enjoy the game, have fun, be loud, and jump for LA Football Club, ole, ole.
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