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Columbus (8-4-3) at Real Salt Lake (5-6-5), 9 p.m.

Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - The Columbus Crew travel to Real Salt Lake on Saturday night for a contest between two teams that didn't make the playoffs last year, but are definitely in the mix this season.

The Crew have the second best record in the league, sitting six points back of the league-leading New England Revolution with two games in hand. RSL, on the other hand, is under .500, but is still in the mix because it plays in the Western table, where it's one of six teams that are within four points of the conference lead.

RSL (5-6-5) has another thing going for it heading into Saturday's fixture - it is one of just two teams that has yet to taste defeat on home soil this season. At 4-0-5, RSL is far from dominant at Rice-Eccles Stadium, meaning it will have to be on its game to get a result vs. the Crew.

Columbus (8-4-3) is on a four-game unbeaten streak and seems to have rebounded nicely from the four-game winless streak that preceded the current run. The latest result was a come-from-behind 2-2 draw vs. the Chicago Fire last week.

After falling behind 2-0, the Crew scored two second-half goals to earn a point on home soil and stay within reach of the Revs.

"We knew we were going to come back, we just felt like we were, and sure enough we did, and we could have even gotten a third," Crew captain Frankie Hejduk said. "The first 20 minutes killed us and then we were having to chase the game a bit, but saying that, we chased it pretty good. We got the two goals back and we created a lot of chances."

RSL is also coming off a draw in its last league contest as well, a 0-0 contest vs. the Houston Dynamo last Thursday.

"I think our guys played a fantastic game; they created a lot of chances in the second half," said RSL coach Jason Kreis, who was suspended for two games for negative comments about the officials after the game. "You just have to figure that one of those is going to hit somebody's butt and go in or something. We just need a bounce to go our way, a little bit of luck."

With a win on Saturday, RSL will take over the top spot in the West, although every other team in the conference will have a game in hand.

To get a win over the Crew, RSL is going to need to improve in an area that a number of other MLS clubs are struggling at as well - scoring goals.

"That's where we've been struggling a little bit the past few games is getting that last touch on the ball and putting it in the net," RSL forward Robbie Findley said. "But we got to keep doing what we're doing. They'll eventually fall."