Chivas v. RSL Pre-Match Notes: Saborio back in XI, Gil starts for injured Grabavoy

Real Salt Lake will be hoping for a dominant win over Chivas USA as they jockey for position in the Western Conference. With RSL, Seattle and Galaxy sitting at 49 points from 30 played, every point from the run-in will be vital as the Claret and Cobalt look to control their playoff seeding.

Lineup

Real Salt Lake

Rimando; Beltran - Borchers - Schuler - Wingert; Beckerman - Johnson - Gil - Morales; Espindola - Saborio

Subs: Reynish, Mansally, Alvarez, Velasquez, Steele, Braun, Paulo

Chivas USA

Kennedy; Jazic, Valencia, Califf (C), Riley; Minda, LaBrocca, Vagenas; Bolaños, Angel, Smith

Subs: McLain; Joseph, Zemanski, Villafaña, Moreno, Agudelo, Correa

Notes

• Javier Morales is playing in his 125th match for the club. He'll be looking to grab a couple assists before season's end to reach his 2010 assists count. He also makes his 15th consecutive start after suffering from early-season injury issues.
• Jamison Olave misses out through yellow card accumulation; Chris Schuler is making his second start since recovering from injury that kept him out through most of the campaign.
• Alvaro Saborio returns after sitting out the last match with a shoulder injury, while Fabian Espindola makes his 24th start of the season. His 27 appearances equals his record regular season appearances, set in 2011.
• With tonight's New York Red Bulls win over Toronto FC, Kenny Cooper (16 goals) moves ahead of Alvaro Saborio (14) to take a clear second place spot in the race for the Golden Boot, the winner of which is almost certainly going to be Chris Wondolowski.
• With a win or a draw, RSL could move ahead of both Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy on points totals, with Seattle kicking off a half-hour before RSL and the Galaxy playing tomorrow. All three are at 49 points from 30 matches, with RSL worst off in goal difference (6, to Seattle's 14 and Galaxy's 12).
• Four points from RSL's final four matches would see the club equal its 2011 points haul of 53 and come within three of its 2010 record - although the 2010 campaign saw only 30 matches played.