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Real Salt Lake (0-0-0) at San Jose Earthquakes (0-0-0), 9 p.m.

Santa Clara, CA (Sports Network) - Real Salt Lake begins its Major League Soccer title defense on Saturday night when it travels to take on the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium.

RSL will be aiming to prove last season's championship wasn't a fluke after it just sneaked into the playoffs as the last seed before topping Columbus, Chicago and Los Angeles en route to the MLS Cup, the latter two in penalty kicks.

RSL coach Jason Kreis always believed Real was capable of beating any team in the league, and the postseason run proved him right.

"We believed that this team had the potential to be the best team in the league and - through the entire season, on our best days - we were a fantastic team," he said on the club's website.

The 'Quakes, who won the season series against the champs last season, will be gunning for a quick start after a number of roster changes were necessitated by the last place finish in the Western table in 2009.

"We've got quite a few new faces," San Jose coach Frank Yallop told The Sports Network. "For whatever reason we had a poor year last year by our standards because we set a good example the first year. The second year in expansion is tough and I think that we found [that out]. I think we had a lot of injuries at the wrong times.

The midfield is the biggest question mark for the 'Quakes heading into the 2010 season. For San Jose to be successful, it needs to get significantly more than the one goal and two assists it got out of Bobby Convey last year.

"Bobby Convey has got to have a good year, a productive year," Yallop said. "It's no good being a passenger in the team. He's got to be a difference maker, with the [six-figure] salary and what's expected with that. We are expecting Bobby to have a good year but what I like about it is the competitive environment here. If you don't do the business then you don't play."

Expect the Earthquakes to give the champs their best shot on Saturday, but RSL doesn't seem too worried.

"We feel good about our group right now and are looking forward to the start of what I think could be a very strong season for us," Kreis said.