Puddle's Rocky Mountain Cup Preview--July 21

Tomorrow night the rivalry continues at Rio Tinto Stadium.  Real Salt Lake will host the Colorado Rapids in the second installment of the 2012 Rocky Mountain Cup.  RSL won the first match of the year 2-0 at the RioT, and another win tomorrow night will keep the cup in Claret and Cobalt for another year.

RSL will look to continue it's recent dominance in this series.  They're unbeaten in their last 7 vs the Rapids, with 3 wins and 4 draws.  All time at Salt Lake (Rice Eccles & Rio Tinto) RSL has won 6, lost 3, and drawn 3.

The injury role for the match isn't all that bad for either side.  For RSL, Schuler is still out.  Javier Morales, Nat Borchers, and Ned Grabavoy are all listed as probable.  For the Rapids, Anthony Wallace and Pablo Mastroeni are out, while Conor Casey and Omar Cummings are both listed as probable.

The suspension story is quite different though.  RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman is suspended due to a red card he picked up during the San Jose match last weekend.  The Rapids are also missing a key midfield cog, as Jeff Larentowicz is suspended after picking up his 5th yellow of the season Wednesday night in Toronto.  For RSL, Jamison Olave, Alvaro Saborio, and Jonny Steele will face suspension on receipt of their next yellow card.  Colorado has no player in this boat.

RSL is coming off of a humiliating 5-0 loss to Western Conference Leaders San Jose last weekend at Buck Shaw stadium.  RSL were trailing 1-0 when Beckerman was sent off in the second half, but it was all downhill from there.  Coach Kreis responded to the second worse loss in team history by saying: "We need to be more disciplined, and when I say more disciplined, I'm not just talking about how we're reacting to referees' decisions. I'm talking about how the way we played the game tonight. ... Even a man down, we shouldn't be allowing four more goals."

Colorado played at Toronto on Wednesday night, squandering a 1-0 lead and eventually losing 2-1, dropping them to their fourth straight loss.  On 22 points, they sit only three above the Portland Timbers and FC Dallas at the bottom of the table in the west.  Striker Conor Casey had this to say after that match: "We're definitely sliding; we just haven't been able to find a way to win. It is kind of hard and frustrating right now to be able to really analyze the game. We're losing ground and we have to do something to change things around because we're not doing well and we're not getting points."

So perhaps tomorrow night's match comes down to who is more desperate for the points: RSL or Colorado?  The Rapids want to stay in the playoff chase, but RSL wants to make up ground on San Jose.  Certainly the Rapids are in a more precarious position as far as the post season is concerned, but with Champions League coming up, RSL doesn't want to lose any more ground in MLS.

I expect both teams to create some chances and test the goalkeepers.  However, it could come down to which defense buckles down and avoids the big mistake on a set piece, counter attack, or late run from build up play.  The Rapids have been trying to turn into a possession team this year, but they'll have a hard time asserting that against RSL.  Reports from RSL training have suggested that the Claret and Cobalt have been doing a ton of work on set piece and general defending this week, which is a good sign.  I also expect the Rapids to continue the "hack-a-Javi" strategy to try and take Morales out of the mix and get into the heads of RSL.  For RSL fans, hopefully the guys have moved past that a little bit.

In the end, I'll take RSL 2-1 at the end of a hard fought, physical effort that both teams can be proud of.