Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) meet Real Salt Lake in a Western Conference matchup at BMO Stadium on Sunday, October 1 after suffering a penalty shootout loss to Tigres UANL in the Campeones Cup on Wednesday night. 

The Black and Gold have now gone three games without scoring or conceding a goal after their 0-0 stalemate in regular time against Tigres. 

With 45 points, LAFC is in second position in the Western Conference. If LAFC beats RSL on Sunday, it would be the club’s fifth time in its six years of existence that it has qualified for the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. 

The Black and Gold have a 13-2-0 record versus RSL in all competitions, including a 4-0 victory at BMO Stadium in the Leagues Cup Round of 16 on August 8.

A DEEP DIVE INTO RSL

With four games remaining in the Western Conference, RSL, led by 47-year-old former USMNT player Pablo Mastroeni, is in the thick of a placement struggle. The team is presently tied for fifth position with the Houston Dynamo with 43 points, however they are behind in the standings due to a worse goal differential. 

Across all competitions, RSL has only won two of its past eight games (2-6-0). Since joining RSL in early July, former LAFC attacker Cristian Arango has had a significant impact, scoring five goals and dishing out two assists in just nine MLS games. Despite only joining the club from C.F. Pachuca in the summer transfer window, the Colombian striker’s five goals are second only to Jefferson Savarino’s six. 

After undergoing surgery to repair his right meniscus, RSL will be without star midfielder Pablo Ruiz for four to six months.

IF (and only if) THE BLACK AND GOLD

Its defense should be able to enable Maxime Crépeau record his fourth consecutive shutout since his comeback from injury. LAFC has already beaten RSL twice in 2023 by a combined 7-0 score, and RSL has surrendered 45 goals in MLS competition (fifth-worst in the league), therefore LAFC should score against them at home.

RSL HAS A CHANCE OF WINNING IF

The form it showed before Arango joined the club is recoverable. Prior to the start of Leagues Cup, RSL was 6-0-3 in MLS play, but since then, they have only won twice. RSL had an 11-game road winning streak (W8, L3) come to an end with four consecutive losses across all competitions.