(Sports Network) - Real Salt Lake hosts the Colorado Rapids in the second Major League Soccer fixture between the Rocky Mountain rivals on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium. The Rapids took the first game, 2-0, on May 2.

RSL (3-6-2) will be looking to snap a six-game winless skid that has seen them lose four of those matches. The most recent fixture was a loss, 1-2, at last-placed San Jose last weekend.

"If there's one positive [the S.J. loss], it's that we scored our first road goal of the season, and scored our first goal in a while," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "That's one positive from a game full of many, many negatives. When we scored the goal, I thought the reaction and the mentality of the group was the right one, to really go after it and throw all kinds of numbers forward."

But RSL wasn't able to get another goal, leaving it with just the one in its last four games. Kreis hopes returning home vs. his team's fiercest rival is what the doctor ordered.

"I think we play with a bit more confidence, a bit more flair, a bit more everything when we play at home," he said. "When we play away, we're a lot more hesitant, and not sharp enough. I think we have to look at [Saturday's match] as a poor performance by us all around. Defensively, it wasn't good enough. Offensively, it wasn't good enough. In all facets of the game, we just weren't good enough."

The Rapids (4-2-4) are on the other end of the spectrum, going five games without a loss, with two wins in that span. The most recent fixture was a 3-2 win at New York last weekend.

"I think we did a terrific job the past couple of weeks, playing at New England and playing [at New York, with a home game vs. Seattle sandwiched in between], on turf of getting to grips with the pitch fairly quickly," Colorado coach Gary Smith said.

Conor Casey has been leading the team's offense, with eight goals this season, including two against New York last week, but he won't be available Saturday because he was a late call-up to the U.S. national team.

"He's been absolutely terrific," Smith said. "He's been carrying a sore foot and he's had a difficult year after a broken bone in the summer in his foot. To a degree, we've been nursing him through the week, but when he counts like that, I'd play him in a concrete boot just to get him out there. He's in one of those veins of form right now and I don't want to put the markers on him, but he looks very sharp in front of the goal."

Casey joins Rapids' captain Pablo Mastroeni on the U.S. squad. Colorado forward Omar Cummings is the only injury, but is listed as probable for Saturday with a calf strain.

RSL will be without midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales because of suspensions, while forward Fabian Espndola and defender Ian Joy are listed as probable with injuries.



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