Sounders vs. RSL, 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs: Seattle dominates, but Rimando earns Salt Lake draw

Thursday’s match is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network.

Besides those two players, both teams have sent out first-choice sides.

This time around, the Sounders get the first leg at home and the chance to get out on the front foot. While last year was a disappointment, it was just another in three years of postseason disappointments, where they have failed to win a single tie or score in the first leg. Might this be the year that they finally break through?

For Salt Lake, it is possibly their last stand. While they did get past Seattle last year, they went out in the next round and after this year’s CONCACAF Champions League exit, a failure in this season’s playoffs may force to club to tear apart the team and start anew.

As great as the Western Conference semifinal matchup between the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake may look at paper, there are some rather large caveats regarding health going into Friday’s first leg. The biggest question mark surrounds Sounders forward Eddie Johnson, who has been all but ruled out of the game by coach Sigi Schmid. But there’s an almost equally big question around RSL center back Jamison Olave, as he continues to nurse a hamstring strain.

Both injuries could amply affect how the teams approach this game, and it’s not entirely clear who would be the bigger absence.