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Real Salt Lake faces Houston Dynamo tonight, with squad depth likely to be called in -- after Wednesday's 2-1 win over Portland Timbers in the US Open Cup and a glut of matches in recent weeks, it could be necessary. But with RSL at the top of the table, maintaining position will be essential.
With Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales both potentially out -- as we discussed yesterday -- the roles of Ned Grabavoy and Luis Gil could be made nominally more important. Grabavoy could see time at the base of the diamond, with Beckerman currently "50-50" as per Jason Kreis. Luis Gil could play at the top of it, as Javier Morales only came on as a substitute against Portland Timbers on Wednesday owing to an adductor strain. But if there are two players at Real Salt Lake who could fight their way through injury, Beckerman and Morales are just those.
The defense could maintain its shape, with Chris Wingert and Tony Beltran both likely to play, and Nat Borchers and Carlos Salcedo continuing their fine partnership they've established. Nick Rimando inevitably starts behind them.
Up top, there may be no reason for Alvaro Saborio to not start, but there may be risk of injury involved -- a degree of preparatory caution will be had by Jason Kreis and his coaching staff. His partner remains to be seen: Joao Plata has been very bright off the bench and scored the game-winning goal against Portland Timbers in the US Open Cup semifinal, while Robbie Findley has been involved in quality build-up play in recent weeks.
The decisions keep on coming, and Jason Kreis's work is surely cut out for him.
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