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SANDY — After a bit of a break, Real Salt Lake returns to Major League Soccer action Saturday by hosting Western Conference rival Seattle for the second time this season inside Rio Tinto Stadium.
It's a rival the Salt Lake club knows well.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for Seattle because they play a similar system to what we play,” RSL defender Nat Borchers told ESPN 700 Thursday. “They are very organized defensively; they’ve got a lot of very good players; and they’ve got a really good attacking force up top, so I think that we’ve got a lot of respect for them.”
The Claret and Cobalt took three points with a 2-1 win the first time RSL hosted the Sounders this season back on March 30.
This time around, the Salt Lake club enters on a hot streak at home — both in MLS play and in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. RSL has won its last four matches at home over both competitions and has gone 5-0-1 over the first six matches of the club's lengthy homestand.
RSL currently sits in second place in the Western Conference at 8-5-3 overall (27 points), just a single point behind FC Dallas. The Sounders sit six points behind the Claret and Cobalt with 21 points on a 6-4-3 record.
Seattle also enters Saturday’s match on a bit of a hot streak. The Sounders are coming off a 3-2 home win two weeks ago have gone 5-2-0 over their last seven matches in both MLS and U.S. Open Cup play.
Saturday may see the return of RSL's Costa Rican striker, Alvaro Saborio, and Gambian defender, Abdoulie Mansally, who both returned from international duty this week. RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando (USA) and midfielder Kyle Beckerman (USA) also returned from international duty this week, but did not miss any of the Salt Lake club’s matches.
“Having (Saborio) back is huge for us,” said Borchers. “He’s such a beast up top and he’s such a clinical finisher that he’s just going to add the positive vibe that we’ve had up top.”
The Salt Lake club will, however, be without young midfielder Luis Gil, who is currently on international duty with the U.S. youth national team at the U-20 World Cup in Turkey.
RSL will also be without defenders Kwame Watson-Siriboe (right ACL tear/rupture, right meniscus tear), Chris Schuler (left foot stress response signal), Rich Balchan (left shoulder surgery) and midfielder John Stertzer (right shoulder surgery). All are on the injured list.
Watson-Siriboe underwent surgery this week to repair his right ACL and meniscus, an injury suffered in the club’s reserve match last weekend in Phoenix that will keep him from the pitch for the remainder of the season.
Meanwhile, Seattle will also see a handful of players return from international duty, including two who were at Rio Tinto this week with the U.S. men’s national team: midfielder Brad Evans and forward Eddie Johnson.
Saturday’s match will be the last MLS match for RSL in its current lengthy homestand that began nearly a month ago when the Salt Lake club hosted the Chicago Fire. Following Saturday’s match, the Claret and Cobalt will return to U.S. Open Cup action next Wednesday by hosting the Carolina RailHawks in a quarterfinal match. It will then head out on the road to face Toronto FC on June 29. Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter @kiraterry.
