Pablo Mastroeni had high praise for Diego Luna, whom he compared to both Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona, ahead of their MLS meeting with the Houston Dynamo.

Luna played a starring role for the United States at the CONCACAF Gold Cup on their run to the final, drawing plaudits for his performances.

In his absence, Real Salt Lake have strung together a three-game unbeaten streak (W2 D1), including a 3-2 win over St. Louis City SC last time out to move to 12th in the Western Conference.

And ahead of his expected return, Mastroeni highlighted what makes Luna so special.

"I'd label Luna as a throwback number 10. A little bit like a [Lionel] Messi, a little bit like a Diego Maradona, you know, guys that colored outside the lines, so to speak," he told KSL Sports Zone.

"And I think when Luna first got here, he had all that in spades, and it was wonderful because it's really hard to defend [against]. You don't know what he's going to do. And he's added even more variety to his game.

"Luna is an artist in the way he approaches the attack, where he finds gaps. He's unpredictable in the attack, and he plays with a ton of flair, but he's also working for the team. And I think it's been a long road, but he's not a complete package on both sides of the ball."

Houston, meanwhile, sit in eighth, four points better off than their hosts heading into this weekend's match.

They have won their last two games, including a dramatic 4-3 stoppage-time victory over San Diego FC, who sit top of the West.

Despite an impressive performance, head coach Ben Olsen believes there is still a lot they need to work on if they want a playoff place.

"I think we're finally getting our heads around how urgent this moment is to continue to grow," he said.

"But some things, the intangibles, like the work rate and bailing your team out, all of the little things have to be the floor, and too many times that's been up and down this year.

"And hopefully, we can get something out of the game [against Salt Lake]."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Salt Lake – Noah Caliskan

Noah Caliskan scored for both teams in Real Salt Lake's win over St. Louis City SC on Saturday, scoring in the sixth minute before netting an own goal in the 80th.

Caliskan became just the second RSL player to score a goal and an own goal in a single regular-season match after Jamison Olave in March 2015, claiming an unwanted record.

Houston Dynamo – Ezequiel Ponce

Ezequiel Ponce scored his first career MLS brace in Houston's win over San Diego FC on Saturday, scoring the equalizer at 87' and the winner at 90'+10.

Ponce is the first Dynamo player to score an equalizing goal and a winning goal after the 80th minute of a regular-season MLS match.

MATCH PREDICTION: REAL SALT LAKE WIN

Real Salt Lake recorded a 2-1 victory at Houston in the first meeting between the teams this season on March 15. RSL have not won consecutive matches against the Dynamo in all competitions since winning both meetings during the 2018 regular season.

Real Salt Lake have picked up back-to-back home wins for the first time in nearly a year, since victories over the New England Revolution and FC Dallas in August 2024. Between the two-match home-winning runs, Salt Lake had recorded just three wins in 12 home matches in all competitions.

Meanwhile, Houston scored at 87' and 90'+10 to beat San Diego 4-3 on Saturday. It was the latest that the Dynamo have ever trailed in a match in which they came back to win in the club's MLS history.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Real Salt Lake – 41.1%

Draw – 26.7%

Houston Dynamo – 32.2%