San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas acknowledged his team are in a tough patch, but he insists they remain in high spirits ahead of their trip to Real Salt Lake in MLS.

San Diego are winless in their last five matches in all competitions (D2 L3) – since a 3-2 first-leg win over Toluca in the Concacaf Champions Cup last 16 on March 12 – and have lost their last two in MLS.

They have not been helped by red cards in each of their last four outings, including one for Christopher McVey in their 2-1 loss to Minnesota United, in which they let a lead slip.

Despite their recent setbacks, Varas remains optimistic that their next win is on the horizon as they look to move up from eighth in the Western Conference.

"Right now it's not really going our way," Varas said.

"Last game was a step in the right direction, even though the result didn't go our way, so we're feeling like we're getting back on track, and now it's about taking another step together."

Defender Luca Bombino added: "It's definitely frustrating because we expect a lot from ourselves.

"Things haven't necessarily gone our way, but we know that we have all the talent and the hard work within the squad to achieve the things we want to do on the field."

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, are fourth in the table and are unbeaten in five since losing to the Vancouver Whitecaps in their opening match.

Their home form has been particularly strong, winning all three, and head coach Pablo Mastroeni is determined to build on that against San Diego.

"We talk about it before every home game that this is a special moment," he told KSL Sports.

"I think going into this season, no one really gave us a chance this year, and I think that is a great impetus for us to make sure that we continue with the type of start that we have to games at home."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Salt Lake – Zavier Gozo

In Real Salt Lake's last match, Zavier Gozo tallied his sixth career MLS regular-season goal, the second-most by a teenager for the club, behind Luis Gil (eight).

His six goals since the start of last season are tied for the most by a teenager in MLS play with Red Bull New York's Julian Hall.

San Diego FC – Marcus Ingvartsen

Marcus Ingvartsen is San Diego's top scorer in MLS this season, having netted four goals in seven games so far.

However, he has failed to score in their last two games – both losses – and he last hit the net against RSL on March 22 when he cancelled out Sergi Solans' opener.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Real Salt Lake and San Diego have combined to score at least four goals in all three of their meetings.

RSL have played four straight games with four or more combined goals in a league fixture twice in club history (vs. New England Revolution from 2008-10 and LA Galaxy from 2007-09).

San Diego have lost three of their five road matches (W1 D1) across all competitions this season, including back-to-back shutout losses for the first time in club history. Last season, San Diego suffered just four losses across their 18 road contests in all competitions (W12 D2).

Real Salt Lake has scored multiple goals in five straight games, the longest streak by an MLS team this season. It is also tied for the longest such streak in the regular season in team history, doing so four times previously, most recently in 2017.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Real Salt Lake – 39.4%

Draw – 26.6%

San Diego FC – 34%