Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake Match Thread [7:00]

The Portland Timbers will have to battle through another round of injuries and suspensions if they want to get a result today as they take on Real Salt Lake on the road. With reinforcements arriving in the form of Ben Zemanski and Diego Chara, returning from injury and suspension respectively, the Timbers will regain some of their midfield solidity that has been the team's calling card so far this season, but it still remains to be seen if the Timbers' patchwork lineup can contend with the current league leaders.

Here's all the information you need for today's game:

General Information

Watch it on: NBC Sports Network

Kick off: 7:00 pm at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, UT

Portland Timbers: 4th place in the Western Conference. (35 points)

Real Salt Lake: 1st place in the Western Conference. (45 points)

Starting Lineups

Portland Timbers: Ricketts ©, Zemanski, Jean-Baptiste, McKenzie, Harrington, Chara, Valeri, Wallace, Alhassan, R. Johnson, Nagbe

Real Salt Lake: Rimando, Beltran, Salcedo, Borchers, Wingert; Beckerman, Gil, Grabavoy, Morales; Plata, Saborio

Final Thoughts

This one is going to be a stretch. Playing in Salt Lake, at altitude, with a team that has seen half of the roster unavailable at one time or another this month? That is a tall order, even for a team as talented as the Timbers. If the team can get their finishing together and sneak an early goal, as they have threatened to do pretty consistently this year, then they have a good chance of coming away from this with a point or three, but the longer it takes for the Timbers to get on the board, the more likely it is that RSL will take control of the match.