FULL-TIME: Bobby Wood scored just after halftime — following a more than two-hour weather delay — and the Seattle Sounders ran their winless run at Rio Tinto to 12 games with a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake.

WEATHER DELAY: Lightning struck near the stadium in the 43rd minute, triggering a weather delay. In the meantime, it has started hailing. It’s unclear when the game will resume.

LINEUPS: Brian Schmetzer brought back to 3-4-2-1 with a lineup that features Albert Rusnák and João Paulo in a double pivot behind Reed Baker-Whiting and Léo Chú. Of particular note is that Nicolás Lodeiro remained in Seattle in order to be prepared for Tuesday’s CCL match.

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There’s no stadium the Seattle Sounders have struggled to win in quite as badly as Rio Tinto. Since winning a playoff game there in 2012, the Sounders have played at Real Salt Lake’s stadium 11 times in all competitions. The only time they escaped with their desired result was the 2016 U.S. Open Cup, when they advanced via penalty shootout. In the 10 regular-season trips, they’re 0-9-1, and that tie came after they blew a late lead in 2020.

All of which is to say, the Sounders would really like to turn that around. Unfortunately, as seems to be the case every time they play here, the Sounders won’t have their full assortment of players. In addition to injuries to players like Raúl Ruidíaz, they’re also likely to rotate a few starters in order to have them ready for Tuesday’s CCL match against Club León.

RSL will also be short a few key players — David Ochoa and Aaron Herrera are both expected to miss this game.

Notes

• The Sounders have lost 11 matches at Rio Tinto, including playoffs. That’s more than they’ve lost at any other stadium in their MLS history.
• RSL comes into this match having lost two straight at home. They’ve not lost three straight at home since 2005.
• The Sounders have not won any of their previous eight MLS matches, including last year’s playoff game. Their longest winless run is nine matches, from May-July 2012.

Absences: Injury, international duty and suspension

Seattle

QUESTIONABLE: Will Bruin (right calf strain)

OUT: Josh Atencio (Right quad strain); Jimmy Medranda (Left hamstring strain); Raúl Ruidíaz (Right hamstring strain); Andrew Thomas (Right calf strain)

Real Salt Lake

QUESTIONABLE: Damir Kreilach

OUT: Zack Farnsworth, Nick Besler, Aaron Herrera, David Ochoa, Rubio Rubin

Officials

REF: Nima Saghafi; AR1: Nick Uranga; AR2: Adam Garner; 4TH: Lukasz Szpala; VAR: Edvin Jurisevic; AVAR: TJ Zablocki

How to Watch

Match date/kickoff time: Saturday, 3:08 PM PT

Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah

Online Streaming: Amazon Prime (affiliate link, in-market), ESPN+ (affiliate link, out of market), Fubo TV (affiliate link)

Local English TV: Fox13+ (Costigan, Keller, Zakuani)

Local Radio: iHeartMedia (Costigan, Keller, Zakuani)

Local Spanish Radio: El Rey 1360 AM (Rodriguez, Maqueda, Tapia)

Lineups

Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.

This is Seattle Sounders at RSL; watch with us

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