What we’re watching in San Jose Earthquakes vs Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake are inconstant, even if they still sit in 4th place in the west. They’re coming off a loss against FC Dallas, which was the first time they suffered a loss at home in league play this season. San Jose Earthquakes are a poor team this year. They’re currently in 13th in the western conference.

Goal scoring

It’s the team’s biggest problem. Rubio Rubin isn’t seeing minutes. Sergio Córdova isn’t scoring when he should. Jefferson Savarino can’t be the only contributor.

Pablo Ruiz

Midfielder Pablo Ruiz will miss this game on yellow card accumulation. When paired with Jasper Löffelsend, the two have been a pleasant surprise in 2022. The drop-off from either seems significant. We’ll either see Scott Caldwell or Nick Besler step into the Ruiz role. A struggling San Jose might be a good game to impress.

Chang and Sava

We’ve witnessed a reshuffling on the field as Savarino has played centrally with Chang on the right. It’s a fix to a real problem with RSL: lack of a creative attacking midfielder. But it comes at the cost of playing RSL’s best player in Savarino, out of position. He’s certainly not terrible in that role, but he’s not quite at his best either. Having Chang on the field doesn’t hurt. He’s a good right winger who is capable of some truly impressive moment. Ideally, Sava would be on the right with another 10, perhaps Luna once he’s ready, to give the team the best spark.

Player availability

Out: Kreilach (back), Wood (abductor)

Questionable: Schmitt (knee)

Suspension: Ruiz (yellow card accumulation)

With Monarchs: Dewsnup, Garcia, Beavers, Benitez, Wellings, Kei, Orozco

Predicted lineup