There's only one game left in the 2009 MLS Schedule and it's the big one; the MLS Cup Final. This year's final, which will be played at Seattle's Qwest Field, pits Western Conference regular season champs the L.A. Galaxy against the streaking Real Salt Lake.
The matchup offers some good star power with the obvious L.A. players Landon Donovan and David Beckham and lesser-known (but very effective) Salt Lake players Robbie Findley and Kyle Beckerman.
The game, which will be played on Sunday at 7:30 CDT on ESPN, will be the third meeting between the clubs on the year. Somewhat surprisingly, RSL got the better of L.A. in the season series -- notching a 2-2 draw at home on May 6th and getting a rare win on the road with a 2-0 result at the Home Depot Center on June 13th.
I'll keep this preview short and sweet (for now anyway...) so let me get right down to the poll question -- followed (after the jump) by my prediction.
My vote is going to the L.A. Galaxy to win this game. I just think that L.A. has a bit too much talent for Real Salt Lake (who I think will put up a very strong effort) and the Galaxy will win their third MLS Cup title. I'll say the score will be 2-1 Galaxy, with Landon Donovan and Mike Magee netting for L.A. and Javier Morales putting one in for Real Salt Lake.
Despite the addition of the poll question, I still want to hear all of your complete predictions in the comments section below. So go ahead and post away -- you'll be trying to knock off patrickhattrick, whose 1-0 RSL prediction in last week's Eastern Conference Semifinal was the closest anyone came to predicting the correct score.
I hope to be back later on in the day with some other Fire news, so check back periodically for that. Until then, you can enjoy the MLS Cup related links I've posted below.
The Salt Lake Tribune's profile of the coaching matchup
Salt Lake Tribune article setting the stage for the impending CBA talks
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