Get your Gameface On: Preview on the Crew

I got this idea the other day to do things a little differently. Normally, a blog that covers a particular team would talk about how their team is preparing for the upcoming game. Well, I took the opposite stance. Instead, I've arranged some notes on what to expect from the Crew on Saturday. Enjoy.

Real Salt Lake have faced the Columbus Crew four times and have only came away on top once, loosing the other three. Through the history of the series Columbus have out scored Salt Lake 6-3.

The Crew opened their season with a scoreless draw at home against the Red Bulls. The single point in the standings puts the gold-and-black tied for second with the Bulls. It's the first time since July of last season that the Crew are not in the bottom spot in the Eastern Conference.

In reverse fashion of RSL, the Crew started out their season on the tentative side and warmed up as the game went on. They pressured the Bulls and Jason Garey - some reports say it was Grabavoy - had a shot rock the woodwork.

Columbus players to watch:

Jason Garey. He opened his MLS scoring account at Rice-Eccles Stadium last May, and he looked confident against RBNY last week.

Eddie Gaven. As a teenager he exhibited an amazing level of confidence and skill, netting 16 goals and accumulating 12 assists in his three years with the MetroStars. But, last year he traded in his red-and-black stripes for the Gold of Columbus and without a strong support group of talent around him Gaven sunk with the rest of the league's worst team.

Andy Herron is another addition to the Columbus offense who is decent and will probably open up some space for Garey and provide a target for Gaven. He did score against RSL in 2005 while playing for Chicago in a 3-1 win for the Fire.

Goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum got his first career shutout in only his third pro start last Saturday.