New York City FC travels to Salt Lake City to face Real Salt Lake at America First Field in Sandy, Utah on Saturday night. To learn more about RSL, New York Soccer Journal spoke with Kyle Sipple and Trevor Brady of Wasatch Soccer Sentinel: Here is your NYCFC vs Real Salt Lake preview.
• League Form: L-D-L-L-L
• Record: 8W, 5D, 10L | 29 points, 10th place in Western Conference
• Scoring Leader: Sergi Solans, 9 goals
• Assist Leaders: Zavier Gozo, Juan Sanabria, and Morgan Guilavogui, 4 assists
1. Winless in 10
New York Soccer Journal: Real Salt Lake haven’t won an MLS match since May 16 — a 10-game winless run — and are 10th in the Western Conference, one point out of a playoff spot. What’s gone wrong for RSL in this miserable stretch?
Wasatch Soccer Sentinel: I think it's a number of things, including injuries, Zavier Gozo's departure, key players underperforming, and what I believe is a common theme under Pablo Mastroeni: good and bad streaks. A big thread running underneath a lot of that is squad rotation. This team is at its best when the same guys are out there, but between injuries, roster moves, and Leagues Cup, we've had to rotate a ton and just haven't been able to string together consistent performances on either side of the ball.
It's no secret that Zavier Gozo is a great player, but I think he also brought a certain attitude and joy to this team that's hard to replace. It's clear that we're missing his energy being around just as much as his on-the-field production. Justen Glad is third in all time appearances for RSL and he's also been one of RSL's most important players. Our PPG when he plays vs when he doesn't is stark. And unfortunately, he's had what appears to be a chronic injury flare up again this year. I'll touch on Diego Luna in a moment…but on the idea of Pablo Mastroeni's team's streaks, this is something that we've seen for the last few years. Pablo gets a lot of credit for the "mentality" he instills in his teams (think xDAWG or whatever), but when so much rides on mentality, it gets really difficult for his teams to dig themselves out of a rut. And this has been a particularly long rut.
2. Better at America First Field
NYSJ: RSL has a poor record of 1W-3D-8L on the road but is a completely different team at home this season, racking up a 7W-2D-2L record. Why is Salt Lake so much better at America First Field?
WSS: Historically, The RioT (now America's First and Only Field), has been a fortress. Fans come out for games. The city and stadium are at a high altitude. It's just not a very easy place for away teams to come and play. I'm not sure there's one thing that can explain the better form at home, but with a team that seems very dependent on "vibes," the home crowds generally bring it in droves. Also, I do think the team itself has been prioritizing our best lineups for our home games. I'm honestly not sure how much this fully bears out, but it feels like we see more rotation on the road — more B-team players out there — which doesn't help when you're already giving up that altitude edge.
3. Something off with Diego Luna
NYSJ: Diego Luna, who has just five goals and three assists this season, is on a four-game scoreless streak and has looked disappointing for most of 2026. What’s going on with the 23-year-old?
