Real Salt Lake hosts LAFC on Sunday, with both teams desperate for points to stay above playoff line

FILE — Real Salt Lake’s Aaron Herrera, center, defends against Los Angeles FC’s Diego Rossi (9) during the second half during an MLS soccer match Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in Sandy, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) | AP

SANDY — What do you get when you have a team that scores the most goals in MLS, but then also bleeds them at the other end of the field? A middle-of-the-pack team.

The stunning part is that mediocrity is coming from Los Angeles FC, the runaway winners of the MLS Supporters’ Shield last year and the favorites going into the 2020 season as well.

Through 14 games though it has been very blah, situated in a seventh-place tie in the Western Conference standings with a 5-6-3 record and 18 points.

Everyone just assumes LAFC will eventually get things figured out, but its 3-6-0 record since the MLS is Back Tournament tells a different story. Last weekend it lost to 2-1 to San Jose, the last place team in the West.

Level on 18 points, Real Salt Lake is in an identical situation as LAFC with nine games remaining, but it had nowhere near the same level of expectations heading into the season.

Both will view this Sunday’s clash at Rio Tinto Stadium as a must-win situation heading into the home stretch of the season, and with the two occupying the last two current MLS playoff positions.

RSL coach Freddy Juarez said his team will fully be expecting the 2019-caliber LAFC team on Sunday (7:30 p.m., KMYU).

“Win or lose, there’s never a shortage of opportunities. They’re super dangerous, they get on the attack. They still do what they want to do, they’re still great at counter pressing out of the three center mids,” said Juarez.

That pressure has led to a league-leading 32 goals, but that pressure has also left LAFC vulnerable to transition opportunities going the other way and the personnel at the back isn’t nearly as good to do with those situations.

When these teams met at Rio Tinto Stadium on Sept. 9, the shots (19) and shots on goal (8) were identical, with LAFC even controlling possession with a 56-44 edge.

Real Salt Lake was the more clinical team in front of goal though, as it pulled away for the 3-0 win.

Sunday’s rematch kicks off another very hectic stretch of games for RSL, which will play five games over the next 15 days.

“You’ve got to be excited about it, there’s a lot of games. So if one game doesn’t go well, you don’t have eight days to dwell on it, you got a couple days of recovery and you’re out there playing again,” said RSL midfielder Justin Meram.

RSL will have to navigate that stretch without midfielder Albert Rusnak, who has been called up by the Slovakian National team for some important matches of its own.

Rusnak has already left for Europe, with Slovakia’s three games scheduled for Oct. 8, Oct. 11 and Oct. 14. With a mandatory 10-day quarantine requirement upon returning to the United States, he’ll miss six games, which only leaves three games left in the regular season when he returns.

Juarez said the coaching staff is still weighing the different line-up choices ahead of LAFC, and with the congested schedule it likely will like different for all six matches Rusnak is gone.

Regardless of who’s in the lineup, RSL only has four home matches remaining this season, and finding a way to earn close to maximum points will be key to try and remain above the playoff line.

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