Match Preview

Match Preview: Sporting KC renews rivalry with road warriors Real Salt Lake on Wednesday

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Sporting Kansas City vs. Real Salt Lake
2023 MLS Regular Season | Match 24
Wednesday, July 12 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:39 kickoff)
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kan.

Broadcast Schedule:
Apple TV | MLS Season Pass
English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM

Four days after earning a 2-2 draw at the top home side in the Western Conference, Sporting Kansas City will host the league's best road team when Real Salt Lake visits Children's Mercy Park on Wednesday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets are available   online at SeatGeek, including the Bud Light Easy to Enjoy Packfeaturing a ticket, a hot dog and a Bud Light for only $30 as well as the Sporting U Pass providing $15 tickets in the Supporters' Stand for college students.

All ticket holders will be allowed to bring in one 20-ounce or smaller sealed bottle of water due to the heat advisory in effect and Children's Mercy Park concessions will also be offering $2 off Guy's Hometown Pretzels on Wednesday. In addition, fans can pre-order team apparel for matchday pick-up at SportingStyle.com, including the new 2023 NLBM x SKC Capsule Collection inspired by Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Buck O'Neil and the history of Negro Leagues Baseball in Kansas City.

Ten seasons after meeting in the 2013 MLS Cup at Children's Mercy Park, Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake will write a new chapter in the series history on Wednesday as two of the most in-form teams in the Western Conference collide for the first time in 2023. Sporting have scored the most goals in MLS since the start of May and have accumulated the second most points in the Western Conference over that stretch - one point off the pace set by Real Salt Lake.

Most Points Since May
in Western Conference

1. Real Salt Lake 23
2. Sporting KC 22
3. Austin FC 20

Real Salt Lake are unbeaten in seven matches (5-0-2) since the start of June - with a league-high 17 points -- and RSL is coming off a 4-0 thrashing of Orlando City SC on Saturday. Argentine midfielder Pablo Ruiz contributed three assists in the win and the 24-year-old now has goal contributions in four straight matches.

Real Salt Lake leads MLS in both shots and shots on goal in 2023,.and RSL recently added a pair of Colombian internationals to their attack with the acquisition of Designated Player Cristian Arango and U-22 Initiative Player Nelson Palacio. Arango, who scored 32 goals in 54 MLS matches for LAFC from 2021-22, marked his club debut on Saturday with the game-winning goal.

Led by head coach Pablo Mastroeni, Real Salt Lake has the best road record (6-3-2) in MLS this season and enters Wednesday unbeaten in 10 straight road trips (8-0-2) across all competitions and riding a club-record four-match road winning streak. The team's success away from home has carried RSL into the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the first time since 2015, when Sporting claimed a 3-1 win en route to capturing the tournament title.

The mid-week match-up is sandwiched between two trips to Texas for Sporting Kansas City, who settled for a share of the spoils on Saturday after conceding a 98th-minute equalizer in Houston. Alan Pulido scored both goals in the road result and now sits third in MLS with 10 goals in the regular season, nine of which have come in the past seven games to make him the league's top scorer since the start of June.

Wednesday's Western Conference clash will be broadcast on Apple TV in English and Spanish for MLS Season Pass subscribers (sign up for a one-month free trial)  with local radio coverage airing on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.  All of the action will also be shown by pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network , including No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District with matchday specials highlighted by $4 domestics, $5 wells and 50% off select appetizers.