Coming into Saturday night's RSL home-opener at Rio Tinto, both teams are coming off of tough losses that put a temporary halt in the momentum each had from week one wins.

For Sigi Schmid's Sounders side, a home tie with the Red Bulls was supposed to be a lock for a win, but that was not the case. After a Macoumba Kandji goal in the first half for the Red Bulls, and some passes that barely missed teammates and shots that barley missed goal, the Sounders fell 1-0 after a week-one win over the expansion Philadelphia Union.

Real Salt Lake had the worst luck of all MLS teams this season so far at Robertson Stadium in Houston last Thursday. Jamison Olave had the worst luck of all. Olave was called for two penalties within a span of five minutes by referee Jair Marrufo. Brad Davis converted on both of those penalties, giving Houston the 2-1 advantage which they held onto for the rest of the match.

Keys to Game for Seattle:

1. Midfielders need to be more accurate with passing.

During the second half against the Red Bulls, the Sounders had many chances to score, but could not get either the pass or shot down accurately, which turned into many goal kicks.

2. Win the battle in central midfield

Both of these teams feature spectacular midfield talent. Osvaldo Alonso will have his hands full against Kyle Beckerman in the best matchup on the pitch at Rio Tinto. Alonso will have to maintain more possession than Beckerman to provide the wingers and strikers with balls to advance down the pitch.

Keys to the Game for Real Salt Lake:

1. Win battle in central midfield

As stated above with regard to Alonso for Seattle, Beckerman will have to the same for RSL and more. RSL does not have the talent out on the wings that Seattle does, so he will have to rely more on midfield partner Javier Morales to get the ball up the pitch.

2. Shoot, shoot, and shoot even more

RSL is going up against one of the best keepers in MLS in Kasey Keller. Whomever Jason Kreis puts up front will have to keep getting the ball on the net to test Keller. If you fire enough strikes at the keeper, one will eventually make it in the back of the net.

Players to Watch:

Seattle: Osvaldo Alonso (M), Kasey Keller (GK), Freddie Ljungberg (M), Steve Zakuani (M), Fredy Montero (F)

Real Salt Lake: Kyle Beckerman (M), Nick Rimando (GK), Jamison Olave (D), Fabian Espindola (F), Alvaro Saborio (F)

Prediction:

Both teams have excellent midfield players, but the difference will be made up front and Seattle has a better attack force.

Seattle wins 2-1.

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