Real Salt Lake will open its tenth season on Saturday night, taking on longtime rival LA Galaxy at 8:30 p.m. MT on ABC 4 at StubHub Center.
Saturday’s match is chock full of interesting storylines. Here are a few to be on the lookout for:
New RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar set for his first match in charge
Though he’s been with the Claret-and-Cobalt since 2007, Saturday’s match will have a different feel for new RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar. Cassar, who took over the head job in December following Jason Kreis’ departure, plans to run the same system as his predecessor, but there will inevitably be some differences between the two. We’ll get our first real glimpse at those differences tomorrow – it’ll be very interesting to see how RSL’s new boss handles in-game adjustments and player selection, not to mention what his demeanor will be like on the sideline.
Landon Donovan aims for all-time scoring record
Galaxy star Landon Donovan can make MLS history on Saturday night, needing only one more goal to pass Jeff Cunningham and set a new league record with 135 career regular season goals. The record will be a well-deserved honor for Donovan when he achieves it, though we certainly hope that he’ll wait until after LA’s first two matches – the Galaxy play both of their first two MLS games against RSL, with the second coming at the Claret-and-Cobalt’s home opener on March 22 – to make his mark in history.
Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando continue climbing up the record books
Real Salt Lake stalwarts Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando will continue their climb up the MLS record books in 2014, with both players set to achieve more career milestones this year.
RSL’s captain, Beckerman will crack the top-10 in MLS history in games played this season. Currently on 325 games played, he needs 17 appearances to become fifth in league history in appearances, and he should set himself up for a run at the top-three in 2015. He’ll also continue his rise up the games started list, tying Tyrone Marshall for eighth all-time in MLS history with his next start. He’ll likely end 2014 in fifth in this category, as well. Look for Becks to crack the top-five in MLS history in career minutes played this season, too.
Rimando is slightly ahead of Beckerman in the aforementioned categories. Currently in fourth in league history with 346 games played, Rimando should pass Jeff Cunningham (365) for third-all time and get within touching distance of Steve Ralston (378) for second. Rimando could become the all-time leader in games played early in the 2016 season, when he could conceivably catch current leader Kevin Hartman (416). Rimando should pass Ralston for second all-time in both games started and minutes played this season.
Of course, the biggest record in play for any RSL player this year is the all-time shutout mark. Rimando is second in MLS history with 108 clean sheets, just four behind Hartman for the all-time record. Here’s hoping that deficit will be three after this weekend.
Morales and Donovan look to continue success against each other
RSL’s Javier Morales and LA’s Landon Donovan have torched each other’s teams in their MLS careers. Morales has put up five goals and eight assists in 14 career regular season games against the Galaxy. Those numbers are wildly impressive, but Donovan has done Javi one better, registering nine goals and nine assists with LA in 18 career regular season games against RSL. Donovan’s nine goals are the second-most against RSL of any player in MLS history, while his nine assists are most in league history against the Claret-and-Cobalt.
Saborio looks to continue hot run of form
RSL forward Alvaro Saborio looks to be hitting his stride at just the right time, scoring four goals in his last three games in all competitions. Saborio scored three goals in RSL’s final two preseason matches, notching a brace in RSL’s 3-1 win over FC Tucson on February 26 and scoring the lone goal in the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 1-1 tie against Chivas USA last Saturday. He continued his goal streak this week for the Costa Rican national team, playing 45 minutes and notching a goal in Los Ticos’ 2-0 friendly win over Paraguay. Let’s hope Sabo – who has the best goals per 90 minutes rate of any player with more than 75 career MLS regular season appearances – stays hot on Saturday.
RSL and LA set for rematch of 2013 Western Conference Semifinal series
Yeah, let’s not forget about this. Good times.
