Real Salt Lake will have to make do without their star midfielder Pablo Ruiz, as he recently underwent knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.
The 24-year-old suffered the injury in the first half of RSL’s 4-0 defeat to Western Conference rivals LAFC in the round of 16 in the 2023 Leagues Cup. Ruiz started the game but was unable to continue after just 13 minutes.
In Ruiz’ absence, RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni will look to lean on summer signings Nelson Palacio and Braian Ojeda.
The injury comes as a huge blow to the Western Conference side, as Ruiz has tallied four goals and six assists in MLS in 2023 and has been influential to RSL’s success. The midfielder is likely to miss between four to six months, meaning there’s a good chance he won’t feature again this season.
Having been eliminated from Leagues Cup, Real Salt Lake now await for the regular season to return then they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Galaxy on August 20. RSL edged LA in their last meeting in the US Open Cup quarter-final, 3-2, and will be looking to do more of the same to add to their already impressive 37 points as they sit in third place in the Western Conference table.
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