Three things to watch for against Club Tijuana

1) Is Tijuana's slow start in Mexican Liga MX deceiving?

Tijuana has been less than impressive from the beginning of the "apertura" of the Mexican league. After four games the Xolos have two draws and two losses which is currently tied for the second worse record in the league. Last season Tijuana finished somewhere in the middle of the pack at tenth, just one spot ahead of Monterrey. My suspicion is that we should not put too much stock in their current standings as it is hard to judge a club four games into a season. What is fair to say is that Tijuana is likely an average team in Mexico which means they are a formidable opponent.

2) What will the crowd look like?

The last couple times that Real Salt Lake hosted Mexican teams there were a substantial number of Mexican fans. Against Cruz Azul back in 2010, about half of the crowd was rooting for the away team. Against Monterrey, probably five to ten percent of the crowd was backing the visitors in the Champions League final. Of course, that game the ticket sales were largely controlled by RSL season ticket holders. What is sure is that the mixed crowd makes for a competitive, fun environment. Hopefully the Salt Lake fans will represent well and RSL will win the respect of some newcomers to Rio Tinto Stadium.

3) Which RSL players will we see against the Xolos?

Coach Jeff Cassar said in an interview that we will see a mix of players against Tijuana and that he is going to try to get as many minutes for multiple players. My guess is that Luis Gil will see substantial minutes as Javier Morales took a knock against D.C.. I also expect to see a lot of Devon Sandoval, Sebastian Velasquez, as well as Tony Beltran and Chris Wingert, as they both rested on Saturday. Beyond that, we are likely to see a lot of rotation.