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Real Salt Lake-Union Preview

Aug 10, 2010 - 6:25 PM By ZAC POWELL STATS Writer

Real Salt Lake (10-4-5) at Philadelphia (4-10-3), 7:30 p.m. EDT

Real Salt Lake missed an opportunity to move three points closer to first place when it settled for a draw in its last game. RSL should have an even better chance to pick up three points in a matchup with the Philadelphia Union.

Expansion Philadelphia hosts the defending MLS champion for the first time when it faces struggling Salt Lake on Wednesday night.

The Union (4-10-3) will face the challenge of stopping one of the best attacking teams in MLS. Real Salt Lake (10-4-5) tops the league with 33 goals, while Philadelphia is the worst defensive club in MLS, surrendering 1.9 goals per game.

Despite the apparent mismatch, Philadelphia may have several factors working in its favor.

The Union are 3-2-2 at home, while RSL is 3-4-2 on the road. Salt Lake will also be without leading goal scorer Alvaro Saborio, who is joining the Costa Rica national team for a friendly at Paraguay on Wednesday.

Saborio's teammate Robbie Findley is likely to join the U.S. national team for a friendly against Brazil, potentially leaving the club without two players that have combined for 13 goals on the season. Findley has scored four times in six matches since returning from the World Cup.

Even without Saborio and Findley, RSL boasts five players with multiple goals. Fabian Espindola (four) and Pablo Campos will likely start in place of their teammates, but Salt Lake's powerful attack has not been at its best of late.

RSL has scored five times in going 1-1-2 in its last four matches, and needed Findley's equalizer in the 33rd minute to earn a 1-all draw with Kansas City on Saturday. Salt Lake is 0-3-2 when giving up the first goal.

Second-place RSL remained five points behind Los Angeles in the Western Conference.

The Union lost 3-1 to FC Dallas on Sunday and are 0-2-2 since winning two straight in mid-July. Alejandro Moreno scored his first goal of the season in the latest defeat.

"We've just got to continue to work," Moreno told the team's official website. "We get an opportunity on Wednesday in front of our fans to try to get a positive result and hopefully we can get this thing moving forward and in the right direction."

Salt Lake won the first meeting with Philadelphia 3-0 on May 8, with Kyle Beckerman, Jamison Olave and Saborio scoring.