What we watch at Los Angeles FC against Real Salt Lake

This is the international FIFA break in March, so the MLS is in full swing and each team is effective. For Real, this means that three starters (Rusnak, Baird, Johnson and Vazquez) have come out. For the LAFC, five players are missing, but especially the beginner players, Christian Ramirez and Mark-Anthony Kaye. LAFC is undefeated in 2919 – their last loss was against RSL in the 2018 playoffs. They look strong this season. After a terrible match last Saturday, can RSL get something from this match?

Before we can discuss what to expect in this game, we must talk about who is out. The four international players are Rusnak, Baird, Johnson and Vazquez. Of these, Rusnak always begins. Johnson gets to the point where it would not be out of place to see him begin, even if he has not done it yet. Baird started all three RSL games this season. Julian Vazquez, the 17-year-old product of the academy, has not yet seen a match with the team first.

Then there are the red cards. The fact that Savarino did not receive a call from Venezuela was a source of comfort, but after this match against Washington, he will serve his red card suspension today. Marcelo Silva was also sure to start this game, but he also came out. Which brings us to our next issue: Injuries.

RSL has four players listed with an injury. Allen, Glad, Plata and Beltran. The first three are listed as outgoing and Beltran as doubtful. During Friday's training, none of the four injured players participated in full team training. It is safe to badume that they are all out today.

In total, Real is down 8 players who could all start a game. The team has a decent depth, but it makes it much more difficult to start a competitive start.

A major badet here is seeing new faces in the lineup. It's not the ideal way to work with new guys, but it's an opportunity to see the growth of the team. In a similar situation, Justen Glad had a chance, which resulted in an away win in Kansas City several years ago.

The back line: I think we see Holt sneaking into the center of Silva's back. Holt has signed a house contract with the team this year. The 22-year-old has played 90 games in both Monarch games this season and helped the team keep the team clean when a player is injured in last weekend's game. Nedum is sure to start as well as Herrera, but with so many players in attack, we can see that Lennon is propelled into the field. That would mean that we would have to bring Donny Toia to the left back. Toia made his Real debut in 2011 and his presence on the pitch would mean that Herrera could play on the right side, which is his natural position.

The intermediate field should know the least changes, Everton, Beckerman and Kreilach all playing well-known roles.

The attack is where things are the thinnest. Bofo will start on the left wing, perhaps Lennon on the right wing and Tate Schmitt on the center forward. It could be far, but it seems to put the best players in their natural positions. Schmitt has already played on the RSL bench for 38 minutes with the Monarchs (a red card caused a change that made him leave the field). It has not been tested, not even by Holt, good luck for him to get significant minutes.

We could see something completely different. Bofo could play on the 10th with Kreilach at the top. Lennon may well be back with other guys like Schmitt and Ruiz on the wings, but I think this composition (graph below) puts the best players in their best positions. The story of this game is the composition and startup of XI, which makes tonight so interesting.

OUTSIDE:

Allen (knee 16/06/17, end of season)

Glad (toe; 28/02/19)

Plata (ankle; 3/17/19)

DOUBTFUL:

Beltran (knee, 3/15/19)