Chivas USA will put their five-game unbeaten streak on the line Saturday against Real Salt Lake (4 pm ET, TeleFutura). The Goats will travel to Utah following their impressive 3-0 victory against the New England Revolution last weekend, and are hoping to really measure themselves against Real Salt Lake, who although losing their last two competitive matches, are still considered one of the very best teams in the league. Even if facing RSL at any time is an intimidating proposition, it is unclear if they are going through a slump or if they will come out blazing in this game. Although the loss to Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions League Final was tough, it was not necessarily surprising as the two teams were quite evenly matched. In contrast, Portland probably benefitted from the short turnaround between games for Real Salt Lake, the ‘hangover’ effect from the CCL loss, and were bolstered by their terrific crowd at Jeld-Wen Field for the surprising 1-0 victory. With this upcoming game, Chivas will face RSL at their home base of Rio Tinto Stadium, which prior to the loss to Monterrey, was home to one of the longest home unbeaten streaks in the world. Obviously, RSL will not be an easy opponent.
Besides the rapidly improving play for Chivas, the most important factor for them coming into this match is the knowledge Coach Robin Fraser has of Real Salt Lake. Before getting the Chivas job this season Fraser was an assistant coach at RSL, and is credited as being a big reason for their success, especially in the defense. Although Salt Lake’s Coach Jason Kreis will surely anticipate the knowledge Fraser has of the RSL personnel and tactics it has to be said that Fraser likely has more of an advantage against Chivas than any other person in MLS. The players will obviously make the difference in the end, but Chivas may be able to neutralize RSL’s game plan better than most teams and that may help them get a result.
At the beginning of the season, few would have given Chivas much hope in this match, but the full realm of possibilities is really on the table now for them. A win would be fantastic, and is not totally unreasonable at this stage. A draw would also be seen as a positive, and few would begrudge getting a point. A loss is, of course, also quite possible, and certainly Chivas need to be aware of the 4-1 shellacking RSL gave the L.A. Galaxy earlier this year, or the 2-0 victory their second unit racked up against New England several weeks back. So clearly, RSL has quality and depth, and Chivas’ game plan in this match needs to be to prioritize defense, and try and maintain possession as much as they can. In addition, the high energy they have shown for the past few games on the attacking end will be needed if they want to get a result, and if a counter-attacking style will be more effective in this match, the Goats may need to pick their spots when throwing players forward on the attacking end. Above all, this may be the game that Chivas players need to prove that they are capable of playing in big moments and should be automatic choices in the line-up. Perhaps Justin Braun can score his first goal of the season in his home town?
On the injury front, Chivas will face the same players out as the last several weeks. Forward Tristan Bowen and Midfielders Blair Gavin and Paulo Nagamura are all out, while Defender Jimmy Conrad is officially listed as questionable but will likely not play as he is still dealing with post-concussion symptoms. Defender Michael Lahoud, who also suffered a concussion recently, is listed as probable, but it is unclear if he will get on the field, as Zarek Valentin has really wrapped up a spot on the back line. For Real Salt Lake, only a few players are listed as questionable or probable, like Forwards Paulo, Jr. and Alvaro Saborio, Midfielder Will Johnson, and Defender Robbie Russell. Expect RSL to feature their best players on Saturday, and expect Chivas to throw everything they can at RSL to see if they deserve more respect in the league.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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