The New York Red Bulls will pay a visit to Real Salt Lake’s Rio Tinto Stadium Wednesday night in what promises to be an entertaining affair. One of the best strikers in the league, New York’s Bradley Wright-Phillips, will test one of the best defensive midfielders in the Claret and Cobalt’s Kyle Beckerman.
Read on for a complete preview of the clash between the Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake, and for more high-octane MLS action on Wednesday check out our preview of Toronto F.C. vs. D.C. United.
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New York Red Bulls vs. Real Salt Lake, Major League Soccer, Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
When: Wednesday, July 30, 9:00 PM ET
Line: New York Red Bulls +207 at Real Salt Lake +106, tie +232; total 2.5– view all MLS lines
Betting on the New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls are coming off a morale-boosting 1-0 win over Arsenal in their international club friendly last weekend.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]The New York Red Bulls have a trusty goalkeeper in Luis Robles, who is currently second in the league in saves (68). Robles has kept three clean sheets so far this season. His best performance has been keeping a clean sheet against the third-best scoring team in the league, FC Dallas, in May.
Aside from keeping the net safe with an excellent goalkeeper, the Red Bulls also have a devastating offense headed by Bradley Wright-Phillips and team captain Thierry Henry. Wright-Phillips leads the league with 17 goals scored, and has scored in each of the Red Bulls’ last five league games.
However, the Red Bulls rely too much on Wright-Phillips to score them goals. No one else on the team has scored more than five goals during the season.
While Wright-Phillips takes care of the scoring, Red Bulls forward Henry leads the league in assists with 10. Henry has been the Red Bulls’ go-to playmaker with 18 key passes and five assists over the team’s last five league games.
The New York Red Bulls are 1-1-3 in their last five league games.
Betting on Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake will end a three-game home stand against the New York Red Bulls and are coming off a dominant 3-1 win over Montreal Impact.
Unlike the Red Bulls, Real Salt Lake has had goal contributions from throughout their roster with Ecuadorian forward Joao Plata leading the attack. Plata has scored two goals in their home stand to bring his season total to eight. Costa Rican forward Alvaro Saborio has also chipped in with six goals this season.
Real Salt Lake are balanced going forward, but their true strength lies in their midfield. The team has one of the best defensive midfielders in Kyle Beckerman. The defensive midfielder is one of the team’s pass masters with 82% accuracy, and has used that accurate passing to set up a goal in each of the team’s last two games.
Aside from donning the Claret and Cobalt, Beckerman also started in three games of the USMNT at the World Cup, where he showcased his passing skills with 90.2% accuracy.
Real Salt Lake also has two capable goalkeepers in Nick Rimando and Jeff Atinella. Rimando has 111 career clean sheets, one less of the all-time record held by Kevin Hartman. Atinella, on the other hand, took care of the goalkeeping while the veteran was away on international duties. Atinella has a 75.5% save rate in his last eight starts.
Real Salt Lake is undefeated in 11 of its last 12 home matches in the league.
Writer’s Prediction
Real Salt Lake will be powered by their home crowd en route to a win over the New York Red Bulls. To cash in on this and the rest of the MLS schedule this week, create a betting account today.
