Reeling at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, Sporting Kansas City face a pivotal showdown with rivals Real Salt Lake at Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday, 29 June – where victory could simultaneously create breathing room below and reignite faint playoff hopes above.
Keep close tabs on MLS predictions after viewing our Sporting Kansas City vs Real Salt Lake predictions below.
Contents
Key Stats
- Sporting KC are winless in three of their last five matches (D1, L2).
- Real Salt Lake are winless five seven straight away MLS games (D2, L3).
- The Wizards have won just three of their previous 10 home league matches (D2, L5).
- The Claret and Cobalt have received 50 yellow cards and four red cards in 34 matches.
Correct score prediction: Sporting Kansas City 1-1 Real Salt Lake
Kerry Zavagnin saw his side emerge triumphant in an emphatic stoppage time comeback victory, as they edged Charlotte 2-1 last time out. The win ended their two-match slump, lifting them into 12th place in the Western Conference, albeit with a game in hand.
The Wizards will be brimming with confidence, but so will Real Salt Lake. Pablo Mastroeni’s men snapped their own dismal eight-match winless streak in style, claiming a first clean sheet in 11 matches by beating DC United 2-0. With both teams in resurgent form, this rivalry could produce a fiercely contested stalemate.
Pre-game odds and win probability: Sporting have the backing
- HOME: 23/20 (2.15) – 46.5%
- DRAW: 12/5 (3.40) – 29.4%
- AWAY: 9/5 (2.80) – 35.7 %
*odds from Ladbrokes, subject to change
Sporting KC come into this clash as favourites. Though their recent form is worrying – three wins in 10 games – bookies back the hosts with odds of 23/20 (2.15) – suggesting a 46.5% win probability.
The visitors registered a first clean sheet in almost a dozen games against DC United, but that isn’t enough to see the bookies back Mastroeni’s side. Bookmakers expect Salt Lake to take the loss here, with a 35.7% win probability assigned to them
All predictions for today’s games can be found in a comprehensive manner on our football betting tips page.
All predictions for today’s games can be found in a comprehensive manner on our football betting tips page.
Most recent H2Hs: Salty recent history for Sporting
Real Salt Lake have won the previous two matches against Sporting KC, including a 4-3 victory a week ago.
USA MLS 20/06/24
Sporting Kansas City
Real Salt Lake
USA MLS 05/05/24
Real Salt Lake
Sporting Kansas City
USA MLS 08/10/23
Real Salt Lake
Sporting Kansas City
USA MLS 13/07/23
Sporting Kansas City
Real Salt Lake
America Friendlies 08/02/23
Real Salt Lake
Sporting Kansas City
Sporting KC preview: Couple of changes
Kerry Zavagnin misses Robert Voloder and Zohran Bassong due to different injuries.
Predicted lineup: Pulskamp (GK), Shelton, Miller, Fernandez, Ndenbe, Bartlett, Thommy, Munoz, Garcia, Salloi & Joveljic
USA MLS 11/05/25
L
Portland Timbers
1
Sporting Kansas City
0
USA MLS 04/05/25
W
LA Galaxy
0
Sporting Kansas City
1
USA MLS 26/04/25
L
FC Cincinnati
2
Sporting Kansas City
1
USA MLS 20/04/25
W
San Jose Earthquakes
3
Sporting Kansas City
5
USA MLS 13/04/25
L
Portland Timbers
4
Sporting Kansas City
2
Salt Lake preview: A long list of absentees
Mastroeni will miss nearly seven of his players: Brian Ojeda, Dominik Marczuk, Zac Macmath, Diego Luna, Emeka Eneli, Javain Brown and Matthew Bell.
Predicted lineup: Cabral (GK), Caliskam, Glad, Ramirez, Karanis, Palacio, Ruiz, Russell, Gozo, Goncalves & Piol
USA MLS 11/05/25
D
FC Dallas
1
Real Salt Lake
1
USA MLS 04/05/25
L
Vancouver Whitecaps
2
Real Salt Lake
1
USA MLS 26/04/25
W
San Diego FC
1
Real Salt Lake
3
USA MLS 20/04/25
L
Toronto FC
1
Real Salt Lake
0
USA MLS 13/04/25
L
Nashville SC
2
Real Salt Lake
1
Player to Watch: Dejan Joveljic
In hot form at the moment, Joveljic will be the one to keep an eye out for. The Serbian marksman has netted in five of his last six appearances for Sporting KC, including the winning goal against Charlotte in the 96th minute and a match-winning brace against Houston Dynamo at the start of June.
He is in the running for the MLS top scorer award, with 11 goals to his name in 17 league appearances this campaign.