Road to Seattle: Real Salt Lake v Columbus Match Preview

The second match in this year’s MLS play-offs takes place today as Real Salt Lake await the visit of Supporters Shield winner and reigning MLS Champions Columbus Crew.

RSL 1 : 0 Columbus Crew

Their regular season could not have been more contrasting. Columbus under new coach Robert Warzycha waltzed the Supporters Shield. The table only looks close because of two late defeats long after it stopped mattering. RSL however leap frogged in at the very last with a clattering 3-0 win over out of form Colorado on the last day.

The regular season games are one each with RSL handing the Crew their worst domestic defeat of the season, by dint of a 4-1 mugging back in early April. No US side scored more than two against the Crew in other games. Crew turned the tables by winning the return fixture 3-1. For the neutrals watching, this is hopefully a harbinger of a goal fest after the spell binding chess match played out between Seattle and Houston on Sunday.

RSL – the Goal Machine

Neither side reports any injuries beyond the long term and RSL may well be the side under pressure with home advantage and all that brings to a side playing in Utah. RSL have a fantastic home record with nine wins and five draws in their fifteen games. They have scored a magnificent 34 goals at home in those fifteen games, the best in MLS, and more than six better than the second best, and more than twice as many as Columbus scored in away games. So there is a case for thinking that RSL can and must win this game today to stand any chance, as the reverse comparisons obviously work heavily in the Crew’s favour.

Kick off is 3pm Pacific, and Mark Geiger will officiate. If you wanted to simplify the match to a battle of stars, one would say that the sides’ respective best known players are the dreadlocked Kyle Beckerman for RSL, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto, the Columbus Crew Designated Player.

Star Attractions to Watch For

With his semi-grunge hairdo you may think him just a fancy-dan, but Kyle Beckerman is all business on the pitch and has been a been a regular starter in his previous five MLS seasons, and played in the All Star game on his home ground. Known as a gritty hardworker who demands the same of his colleagues, Beckerman’s presence will assure the Crew midfield has to work hard to ensure the necessary possession to stop the goal avalanche RSL are well capable of at home. Clint Mathis and Yuri Movsisyan are probably the RSL player’s most well known after that. But ignore Robbie Findley at your peril. With 12 goals, he is comfortably the Laker’s top scorer.

The enigmatic Guillermo Barros Schelotto has played in 24 of Columbus’ MLS games with 12 goals and three assists in that time. Fully fit, the tricky Argentinian is as much a threat as any of the other Designated Players in MLS and is still regarded as one of the most significant signings in Crew history and among the most significant in MLS history. With 12 goals, he is comfortably the Crew’s top scorer. Frankie Hejduk and Eddie Gaven, who has played in every MLS game, are their key players thereafter. But don’t discount Art Garfunkel lookalike, Steven Lenhart, who is perhaps the most effective bench player in MLS. In the Utah conditions, use of replacements may be key to Crew getting the result they need, and Lenhart will be key to that.

For a more in depth look at the RSL squad see: RSL Match Preview

For a more in depth look at the Columbus Crew squad see: Columbus Crew Match Preview

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