Three keys: Sounders vs Real Salt Lake in US Open Cup Round of 16

The second of three matches in seven days for the Sounders starts tonight as the rave green head to Utah to take on Real Salt Lake in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16. The Sounders beat Kitsap Pumas 2-0 two weeks ago at Starfire to get to this level of the tournament, one round further than they did last season. The four-time USOC champions will be looking to bolster a tepid MLS season with a solid run in the storied competition.

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It took Real Salt Lake extra time and penalties to beat the United Soccer League’s Wilmington Hammerheads in the fourth round, and RSL appears to be fielding a strong side on Tuesday. Coach Jeff Cassar made 10 changes between his team’s last two league matches, suggesting that he was resting many of those players. They won’t want to be embarrassed like they were against Wilmington, and they’ll come out swinging at home against a Western Conference rival.

Here are three keys to tonight’s match, which you can hear at 7 on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM (pregame coverage begins at 6:30) and watch on SoundersFC.com:

Another mixed team for Seattle: The Sounders just played on Saturday, losing 2-0 to NYCFC at CenturyLink Field. This means that a number of players may still be pretty tired from such a quick turnaround, and they’ll also need to be fresh for Saturday’s away trip to Toronto FC. I think we’ll see more first-choice players than Seattle went with against Kitsap Pumas considering tonight’s opponent is much better. My guess is that we’ll see either Brad Evans or Chad Marshall paired with Zach Scott in central defense, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jordan Morris still started up top for the Sounders. S2 loanee Zach Mathers is still practicing with the first team and may make another start in midfield for the team that drafted him before the season.

A scary RSL attack: Quite the opposite of the Sounders’ attack this season, RSL has scored the third-most goals (27) in MLS play. Burrito Martinez and Joao Plata have scored five goals each, while Yura Movsisyan has put in six for himself. Some or all of those players could feature on Tuesday, and they’ll be hoping to overwhelm a Seattle defense that has not been in the best of form in recent weeks.

Beckerman could make his return: After the United States men’s national team crashed out of the Copa America on Saturday night, most players only just returned to their clubs on Monday. It doesn’t matter as much for the Sounders since Clint Dempsey is banned from the USOC for at least five more matches or the end of the 2017 season, whichever happens first for Seattle. For RSL, however, talisman and midfield stalwart Kyle Beckerman could make his first appearance since joining up with the U.S. for the Copa last month. This could make things that much harder for what will likely be a youth-skewed Seattle attack, and may warrant the inclusion of an experienced battler up front like Nelson Valdez or Herculez Gomez.