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Lehi • Real Salt Lake thinks it has a pretty good idea of how FC Dallas will play with a one-goal lead in the second leg of the teams' first-round Major League Soccer playoff series at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night.
"I expect that they're going to come in and do what they have been doing all season," coach Jason Kreis said, "which is trying to play in the opponent's half and trying to dictate the tempo and the flow of the game. So it should be a fantastic game to watch."
Kreis praised the Hoops for daring to play with their usual style rather than sitting back when they visited Utah last month, though that arguably contributed to their fourth straight loss in Utah.
The defending MLS Cup champions faced the same scenario in the playoffs the last two seasons, beating Chivas USA and Columbus by one goal at home before going on the road to clinch the series. They tied the Goats 2-2 in the second leg in 2008, and beat the Crew 3-2 last season.
"If they come and press us, we have a lot of speed up front and we can get in behind them," midfielder Will Johnson said. "If they think that they're going to sit back in front of 20,000 people for 90 minutes, it's a pretty tough task, too."
Ticket talk
Team officials said they are expecting a sellout for the game, with roughly 3,000 tickets still available late Tuesday.
Game-week ticket sales have been stronger so far than any other game of the season except the CONCACAF Champions League game against popular Cruz Azul, officials said, in which RSL set a stadium attendance record of 20,463 at that game.
Injury report
Forward Alvaro Saborio did not practice Tuesday while receiving treatment for his nagging knee injury, and Kreis said the team has "serious concerns, whether or not we think he can be effective for us."
The team's leading scorer aggravated his injury not long before coming out in the 68th minute of the 2-1 loss at FC Dallas last weekend. "It was always going to be a consideration of just how long he could last," Kreis said.
Meanwhile, midfielder Nelson Gonzalez and forward Paulo Junior both returned back to full training, having recovered from foot and groin injuries, respectively.
Uncertain future
Midfielder Alex Nimo seems unlikely to return to RSL next season, after complaining publicly that the team "never gave me an opportunity to really play" before sending him out on loan to the minor-league Portland Timbers the past two seasons.
The Timbers will join MLS next season, and Nimo has said he wants to play for them or retire.
"Alex hasn't helped his cause with his public comments criticizing the organization," general manager Garth Lagerwey said. "As to what the ultimate outcome is there, we don't know yet. … It's not a positive one, at this point."
Back in the back
Defender David Horst returned to RSL from his loan to the minor-league Puerto Rico Islanders, looking like a far more capable and confident player than when he departed.
"I just had to get some games," he said. "I needed that experience at a good level, and I just wasn't getting that here. I mean, I have two of the three Defensive Player of the Year finalists ahead of me."
Horst has played 42 games this season, and helped the Islanders win both USSF Division 2 title and the Caribbean championship while also playing in the CONCACAF Champions League. But with defenders Nat Borchers and Jamison Olave ahead of him, it might be hard to keep him from getting snatched away in the upcoming expansion draft.
Horst will not be eligible for the playoffs, however, because of technicalities involving his loan deal.
FC Dallas at RSL
P Saturday, 8 p.m.
TV • Fox Soccer Channel