RSL Travels to Houston Thursday Night

The league is buzzing over Real Salt Lake's thrashing of San Jose. And why not? The defending champions go on the road in game one and lay a beat down on the Quakes. Great win, no doubt about it. But Houston is not San Jose and the Dynamo are A LOT more formidable than the Earthquakes. Thursday's game in Houston will be a real barometer of momentum carried over from 2009's championship run.

I know we're talking about apples and oranges here, but RSL failed to beat Houston in three tries last year and they have never beaten the Dynamo at Robertson Stadium. Granted, Houston no longer has Stuart Holden or Ricardo Clark holding down the midfield and they are in a bit of a transition period but this is still a team that can beat anyone in the league on any given day. We are talking about a true candidate for the MLS cup every single year.

The Game:

Game two of the RSL season will be an intriguing match up between one of the model franchises in MLS (Houston) and the franchise du jour that is striving for consistency. These are two playoff teams and despite it being an early season match, the quality of play and the atmosphere should reflect a playoff match.

The Key Players:

The match-up between Kyle Beckerman and Geoff Cameron in the center of the pitch will be one of the most physical we will see all year. Neither of these players ever plan to give an inch, and now with Cameron moving from the back to the middle, we all will have the pleasure of seeing these two clash.

Also worth watching, Brian Ching. The dude always happens to be in the right place all the time. Jamison Olave and the rest of the RSL defense will no doubt be shadowing him throughout the match.

The Result:

The stage is set for RSL to build on this momentum and win in Houston for the first time ever. Come Friday morning, the league will be pronouncing ReAL the team to beat the rest of the way, right? Hold on now. Salt Lake fans should not get ahead of themselves. Houston is not going to let that happen. This game always produces bumps, bruises and, of course, no shortage of cards. It will be a back and forth battle that will end up a 1-1 draw, and RSL will be thrilled about it. Opening up Rio Tinto in 2010 with 4 points in their pockets already? They will gladly take it...and so will we.

Real Salt Lake (1-0-0) vs Houston Dynamo (0-0-1)
Robertson Stadium - Houston, Texas
7 P.M. MST - ESPN2