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HERRIMAN — There are two ways to look at Real Salt Lake’s first-round MLS Cup playoff match against Los Angeles FC.
The first is by seed: RSL is the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, while the expansion side from Los Angeles is the No. 3 seed. By the numbers, that puts Salt Lake as the underdog.
And head coach Mike Petke is completely willing to embrace that narrative.
“We are by far the underdog in this game, not only by seeding but by the two games we played them this year and where they finished,” said Petke, whose team will kick off Thursday at 8:30 p.m. MT on ESPN2. “But it’s a one-off game. We know how talented they are. We are very respectful of their capabilities, from the coaching staff down to the players.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult battle.”
In two previous games during the regular season, Real Salt Lake has been out-scored 7-1 against LAFC, including a 5-1 drubbing in the team’s home opener in Sandy back in March.
But this is a very different RSL side — and the same can be said of Carlos Vela-led Los Angeles.
Real Salt Lake improved on its performance with a 2-0 loss when they traveled to Banc of California Stadium in August, and outside of a few sloppy moments in the first half, they represented themselves well, leading scorer Damir Kreilach said.
They even held LAFC to a second-half shutout — whether by gritty defense or Los Angeles’ desire to simply push forward for the win.
“They’re a good team,” said Kreilach, who has 12 goals on the season. “They build out from the beginning. But we have to put our pressure like we do the games at home, and try to catch them in a not-so-good situation, and try to score.”
Anything can happen in a one-off knockout-round game, and RSL is a trendy pick to upset LAFC in the first round. The expansion side is working off just four days’ rest, and limped into the playoffs with 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City in a game that could’ve given them the top seed in the west.
“I don’t think we were any good today, and actually I’m pretty angry,” LAFC coach Bob Bradley said Sunday night. “But I also understand it’s the end of the regular season, and the playoffs are coming quickly. So the focus turns immediately toward recovery and getting ready for Salt Lake.
“But I thought football-wise, the game was choppy, it was physical, and there was no flow to the game.”
So maybe — just maybe — the Salt Lake side shouldn’t be feeling like the underdog.
“I don’t feel like we’re the underdog at all,” RSL defender Brooks Lennon said. “Everyone is in the playoffs, and no one in the season went undefeated. Any team can be beaten, and we did well this season.
“I thought we had a great season, and hopefully we can take the good into Thursday night, work on the bad beforehand, and get it sorted out so we’ll be fine.”
But what about those last two games? One goal might not cut it in RSL’s knockout round, especially with a road crowd and a trio of double-digit goal scorers in Vela (14), Diego Rossi (12) and Adama Diomande (12).
RSL’s leaky defense in the first outing against LAFC doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence, either.
But again, teams can get better over the course of the season — both in Salt Lake and Los Angeles.
“Do we look back on the previous two games? I’m sure a lot of us do,” Petke said. “I look at this as a chance to play them a third time. It’s definitely not going to be the same game as the first time we played them eight months ago; they’ve changed a lot, and we’ve changed a lot. There have been many games since them, and we know it will be a very difficult environment and team to play against.
“We just have to show up at our best. If we show up at our best, it gives us the best chance possible to move on.”
Like a good team captain, RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman seemed to agree with his coach.
“We feel like we haven’t shown our best against them yet,” Beckerman said. “They haven’t seen what we are really capable of. We were excited when we saw it was them; it is tough. They’re a really good team.”
Beckerman added that RSL is playing "with house money" Thursday night. No one expected them to make it to the playoffs — in some ways, not even their own coaches and players — and they’ve got nothing to lose this week.
Petke thought heavily when asked if the "house money" rule comes into effect for RSL after training this week. And after several moments of silence, he finally laughed, nodded, and looked straight into a nearby television camera.
“Yeah, we’re playing with house money,” he said. “Sounds good; I like that.”
