Salt Lake City, UT (My Sportsbook) - The Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake resume their Rocky Mountain rivalry on a rare Friday night Major League Soccer fixture at Rice-Eccles Stadium this week.

Both teams are in need a wins in the mediocre Western Conference that sees just one team - leaders Houston - over .500 through 70 percent of the 2008 campaign.

Despite being just 7-8-6, RSL is in second place in the West, but also only five points ahead of last-placed San Jose. The team is coming off a 0-3 loss at Columbus a week after giving up four first-half goals in a 4-3 loss at Houston.

"[The Columbus game was] another game where defensively I don't think we were quite there," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "We didn't have the energy or the commitment level that I've seen out of this group for a long time. We started off that game like we had already played 45 minutes before the whistle blew. I was really disappointed in our guys' commitment level in the first half and against a team like Columbus, which is a very good team right now, they punished us."

The Rapids (7-11-3) are currently in fourth in the Western table, just three points back of RSL, but have lost three of their last four MLS fixtures, including an 0-3 loss of their own at D.C. United last week.

"In the end, 3-0 is a poor reflection of the sort of effort and determination we brought to the game," Rapids interim coach Gary Smith said. "But in this game you don't always get what you deserve, so we will lick our wounds."

A string of injuries decimated the Rapids' chances of getting a favorable result at D.C. last week. Mehdi Ballouchy was forced off at halftime after taking a ball to the face in the first half; Greg Dalby was on for just 13 minutes before he had to leave after a challenge; and Jacob Peterson also went off at the half. Then Pablo Mastroeni was unable to finish the game because of a hamstring injury, leaving Colorado a man down.

Ballouchy, Dalby, and Mastroeni are all listed as out for Friday's fixture, joining Terry Cooke and Ugo Ihemelu in the training room. Peterson is listed as probable along with Jose Burciaga Jr. and Jordan Harvey, meaning the Rapids will probably be shorthanded again.

Real Salt Lake will probably be without one of its midfielder anchormen, Dema Kovalenko, with a calf strain, while defenders Tony Beltran and Ian Joy are listed as questionable.