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FC Dallas-Real Salt Lake Preview

Jul 23, 2009 - 2:52 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

FC Dallas (4-8-5) at Real Salt Lake (5-7-5), 10:00 p.m. EDT

It's been three months since Real Salt Lake recorded the most lopsided win in franchise history. Since then, they've won just twice and once at home.

Salt Lake will try to enter the All-Star break on a positive note Friday night when its hosts FC Dallas.

RSL (5-7-5) got goals from six players to beat New England 6-0 on April 25, capping a three-game winning streak at Rio Tinto Stadium for a 3-2-0 start this season.

Real, however, followed by going 2-5-5 over the next 12 games and 1-1-2 as host. That stretch has dropped it into sixth place in the Western Conference, seven points behind Los Angeles and Chivas USA, which are tied for the final playoff position.

Salt Lake's troubles continued Saturday, falling 3-1 at Columbus despite outshooting the reigning MLS Cup champion 16-10.

"We created the right number of chances, no doubt about it," RSL coach Jason Kreis told the team's official Web site. "We had some pretty clear chances that we felt pretty bad about not scoring early on. If we had taken some of those early chances it might have been a different game."

Kreis is expected to have Will Johnson and Fabian Espindola back while Kyle Beckerman misses a third game in a row due to the U.S. national team's participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Johnson has missed the last three games while competing with Canada at the Gold Cup, where it was eliminated with a 1-0 loss to Honduras in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The midfielder has one goal and one assist while playing a more defensive role with RSL.

Espindola is returning from a one-game, red-card suspension for retaliating against defender Brandon McDonald in a 1-all tie with San Jose on July 3. The forward has just one goal and one assist in nine games after finding the back of the net a career-high five times last year.

Salt Lake went 2-0-1 against Dallas (4-8-5) last season, winning both games at home.

FCD, seventh in the West and three points back of Real, is returning from a long layoff after losing 1-0 at Colorado on July 11.

Dallas, which is 1-5-2 as the visitor, may have Dario Sala back in goal after a knee injury ruled him out of the last 15 games. He started Wednesday's 2-0 win over CSD Comunicaciones of Guatemala in a friendly, and claims to feel healthy following surgery on a torn meniscus in April.

"I felt better than I expected before the game," Sala told the team's official Web site. "I wasn't sure I would be kicking at 100 percent but after the first couple of kicks, I felt good. I was kicking the ball 80 yards and pushing it. I don't feel like I took two months off. I'm pain free."

Dallas, though, may continue starting Ray Burse, who is 4-7-5 with a 1.46 goals-against average and a shutout in 16 games - 15 starts - in place of Sala.