Real Salt Lake vs Whitecaps Pre-Match Thoughts: Whitecaps look to defeat fellow playoff battlers RSL

6 pointer

This is a pretty identical match to the one against Houston as again you are in a 6 point situation, if you win you can not only take 3 points, you can also snatch 3 points from playoff battlers in Real Salt Lake in this one. This is a critical match for the Caps, as you cannot afford to drop even more points and give your fellow playoff contenders 3 points as for the Whitecaps you're a point ahead of Real Salt Lake but a defeat will place you back in the tough Western Conference battle, which will be a major setback for this Western Conference playoff race. You will basically get 6 points if you get a victory, you will seem to get 3 points and you can get 3 points away from your fellow playoff brawlers. They couldn't win the 6 pointer against Houston, can they defeat Real Salt Lake in another 6 point battle?

Accessibility

Tonight's game is very accessible as you are available to watch the game here at 6:30pm PT, free on Apple TV so for the supporters that didn't buy Apple TV you can watch it for free, it is also available on TSN, as TSN 3 is broadcasting this crucial matchup for the Whitecaps. So if you don't have a Apple ID, you can still access it on your TV box or your subscription for TSN so there's probably a ton of fans tuning in tonight away from home and watching the Whitecaps play at America First Field. This is important, as this is a important match to the Caps and the supporters can view it relatively simply, so the Whitecaps fans can also judge how the Whitecaps play and potentially give an idea to buy season ticket membership or Apple TV MLS Season pass next season, if the Caps play well in this game where it is easily accessible in front of most of their supporters as there is nothing stopping the fans tonight here at America First Field.

Stat of the game

I have two stats that really stand out to me in my opinion, first of all is the goals conceded stat obviously the Whitecaps were better at defending during the start of the season keeping a shutout streak of 443 minutes of not conceding a goal in 443 minutes in Major League Soccer played but it has proven to be a fluke at least for now, as it doesn't seem like the Whitecaps are going by a good defensive team anymore conceding 41 goals this season so far and being 19th in that category which is the bottom half of the league but that's still better than their opposition as RSL are 21st in that category, respectively 5th and 6th in the Western Conference that has high aims, but both these teams seem to get slightly shaky at times when defending so this could potentially be a high scoring game and it just calls out high scoring with how good the Caps are at chance creation, as Ryan Gauld ranks 2nd in the league in big chances created with 17 created by Gauld, and the Whitecaps lead in this category in MLS, with RSL being tied in 4th place in this big chances created statistic, so everything is pointing out to this game being a potentially very high scoring affair.

Storylines

The last time these two foes met was the season opener in 2023, the home opener for the Whitecaps on February 25, unfortunately that did not end well for the Caps as a 24th minute goal by Javain Brown the RSL scored 2 goals one after another and the Caps falls in the opening game of the season, and I think that was the factor that brought the Whitecaps into a rough start of the season only getting 3 out of a possible 5 and they were winless in the start of the season in MLS and I think the Whitecaps p 2-1 defeat. If we go back to the last time Real Salt Lake was hosting, it was a 1-1 draw between the two teams with a late Vancouver goal to equalize and draw the match. If we go back to the covid era, we remember that the Whitecaps cannot play in Canada because of the covid protocols, so Real Salt Lake in Utah was their stadium that they're playing in at America First Field so this is familiar territory for some of the players that have been playing for the Blue and White for a while, as they are playing in the stadium they were considering home for the beginning of the 2021 season. Both teams are also not on good form, as obviously Vancouver lost a disappointing and humbling 4-1 defeat on Wednesday and also Real Salt Lake is also not having a very good experience these last 2 games losing both games on respectively Wednesday and the previous Saturday to Dallas and San Jose. So both teams looking to get back to their winning ways, who will get the win tonight?

Injuries

For the Whitecaps only Hasal and Martins have been deemed 100% out while Sam Adekugbe is questionable after missing 2 matches.

Prediction

As I have used the statistics and this game has loads of potential to be a super high scoring game and I believe it will be a really high scoring, both teams form is not very good coming off of defeats but I think that Vancouver will pull through and score the first goal while RSL will equalize before the halftime whistle and then the Vancouver Whitecaps will get 2 goals in a row, Real Salt Lake will get a late goal but that wouldn't be enough and I believe Vancouver will pull through and get the victory 3-2 against playoff battlers Real Salt Lake away from home and get a crucial victory in a high scoring affair in this one.

Key Player Of The Match

I think Junior Hoilett is going to have a great game as he has shown his abilities in the game against Houston when he was substituted on to make his debut and he was a important part of that own goal conceded at the end, so Hoilett can potentially show even more of his abilities and skills in a better position then how he was in at Houston, so maybe he gets his first start as a Whitecap and he can provide some of that experience and leadership in this game against Real Salt Lake as he can play very versatile as I said and he can potentially maybe get his first goal or assist in his second game as a Vancouver Whitecap.