Match Coverage
Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals start their summer cup competitions
Utah Royals continue the Summer Cup tonight and RSL starts their Leagues Cup campaign on Thursday
It’s summer. The Olympics are here. And the NWSL and MLS are on break, at least from league play. Both leagues are hosting cup competitions that sees Liga MX & Liga MX Femenil head to the US.
Utah Royals in the Summer Cup
What is it?
This is the first Summer Cup, a collaboration that starts in a cup competitions that sees a mix of NWSL and Liga MX Femenil teams face one another. It was announced in March of this year. There are five groups, and the Royals are in group A along side the Portland Thorns, Seattle Reign, and Club Tijuana.
Despite there being five groups, only the four top teams across all group will advance to the knockout stage, so finishing top of your group doesn’t guarantee you a place in the knockout stage. With only four teams advancing, we go right into a semi-final before the final game at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday, October 25.
When are games?
Utah Royals played their first game on the series on Friday, July 19 where they lost against the Seattle Reign 2-1 in Seattle.
Utah’s first home game is on Saturday, July 27 at AFF in Sandy, Utah. Kickoff is scheduled for 8pm. They next play Club Tijuana at home on Wednesday, July 31 at 8pm.
Key absences
Utah Royals are missing several key players with national team call-ups for the Olympics. Amandine Henry is with France, Macey Fraser is with New Zealand, Ifeoma Onumonu is with Nigeria, and URFC newcomer Mina Tanaka is with Japan.
Match expectations
Utah Royals are in a tough spot already. Scoring on road against Seattle was a good moment, but with such a tough group and so many key players out, it’s a tall order for them to finish top of their group. Tonight’s game against Portland will be decisive. A win keeps them in the running, but anything less won’t be enough.
Real Salt Lake in the Leagues Cup
What is it?
The Leagues Cup we all know and love is back. Last year MLS and Liga MX ramped up what had been a glorified set of friendlies to be a real inter-league cup competition. Last year RSL advanced to the round of 16, but LAFC knocked them out in a tough 4-0 loss. Inter Miami went on to win the Leagues Cup cup that year, adding the crowning jewel to Messi’s resume.
This year RSL are in group West 8, along side Houston Dynamo and Atlas. The top two teams advance to the knockout stage.
When are games?
RSL’s first game is on Thursday, August 1 at 7pm at AFF when they host Liga MX side Atlas. They’re next away to the Houston Dynamo on Monday August 5 at 7pm. Since MLS play does not resume until August 24, their results in those two games will determine how busy they are over the next month.
Key absences
Despite Justen Glad returning, RSL still has a few players injured, but the list is much shorter than we’ve seen most of this year.
Forward Chicho Arango is still serving his three game suspension. His third and final suspension should be against Atlas.
Match expectations
RSL are in a bit of a slump. There have one draw and two losses in their last three games. The return of Chicho should be big, but that won’t happen until the Houston game. Even without him, RSL has the quality to advance. This is a good team and now they've had some rest, they should be able to get results in both of their two group stage games.
