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United-Real Salt Lake Preview

Jul 30, 2010 - 6:03 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

D.C. (3-11-3) at Real Salt Lake (9-4-4), 9:00 p.m. EDT

Real Salt Lake's franchise-record unbeaten streak at Rio Tinto Stadium may not appear to be in jeopardy against D.C. United. The team with the fewest points in MLS, however, is looking to carry its recent success into league play.

RSL attempts to extend its home unbeaten streak to 20 and beat United there for a fifth consecutive time Saturday night.

Salt Lake (9-4-4) is 13-0-6 at home since a 2-0 loss to Kansas City on May 16, 2009. The club has also won the lone playoff game at Rio Tinto in that stretch, beating Columbus in October on its way to winning its first MLS Cup.

RSL has its sight set on the Crew's league-record 22-game home unbeaten streak, which ended in September.

"I think we've made a point of having a lot of firsts," coach Jason Kreis told the team's official website. "We take pride in those sorts of things. Why shouldn't we try to go after that, and take some pride in doing it?"

Real kept its string intact with a 1-all tie against Chivas USA last Saturday, and the club has won four in a row at home against United (3-11-3).

"It's not a surprise to me how well we're doing," said Nick Rimando, who made five saves in a scoreless tie in Washington on June 5. "We have the right players on the field and the right coaching staff. That's making us winners. It's fun going to work."

United are in search of their first league win since beating Seattle 3-2 on June 26 for their only road victory. They're 0-3-2 since while getting outscored 6-2.

Production from forwards Danny Allsopp and Pablo Hernandez and midfielder Branko Boskovic spurred D.C. to wins outside of MLS.

Allsopp netted a hat trick while Hernandez also scored in a 4-0 win over England's Portsmouth in a friendly last Saturday. That came three days after Boskovic scored in a 2-0 win over Harrisburg City of the USL in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup.

"We know we need results and we know we all want to win," said Allsopp, who has two league goals. "That's all the motivation we need."

Hernandez and Boskovic joined D.C. earlier this month and have played twice in league play. Hernandez had an assist in his first start, a 2-1 loss to Los Angeles in United's last league game July 18.

D.C. may be able to capitalize on some fatigue issues with Salt Lake, which had Rimando, midfielder Javier Morales and defender Jamison Olave appear in Wednesday's All-Star game. The trio were part of the collection of MLS stars that lost 5-2 to Manchester United in Houston.

Kyle Beckerman missed the exhibition in order to rest a nagging foot injury. The midfielder played 62 minutes against Chivas USA after being out two months.