On Saturday afternoon Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois will play host to a midtable MLS match-up between two teams in very differing runs of form. Real Salt Lake may have more points than the Chicago Fire at the moment, but it is the Fire who will enter this one feeling far more confident.

Due to the relative strengths of the Eastern and Western Conferences, Chicago sits in 6th place in the East on nine points while RSL is mired in 7th in the West on 11. However, RSL have only themselves to blame for being so far down the league table.

After getting off to one of the hottest starts in MLS with eight points from their first four matches, the Royals have only picked up three points from their last five with a record of 0-2-3 (W-L-D). Meanwhile, Chicago have been one of the hottest teams in MLS over the last month. Although they lost to Sporting Kansas City last weekend, they won their previous three matches before that and they outplayed Sporting for large swathes of the second half. 

When we look at the form table, it certainly seems as if the Fire should be favored on Saturday. Yet, it's more than just the results but the manner of the performances in the results which give off that impression. For a year and a half now, RSL have looked like they were experiencing a Jason Kreis induced hangover. Although they were successful last season, they just don't like the same side they were under Kreis when they reached the 2013 MLS Cup Final. On the other side of the pitch, Chicago have been starting to figure things out and the triumvirate of Shaun Maloney, David Accam and Harry Shipp are developing a real understanding on the counter attack.

With all of that in mind, it appears likely that the Fire will be able to pick up their first victory over RSL since 2011 and their first win over the Royals at Toyota Park since 2009.

Last five meetings:

May 3, 2014 Real Salt Lake 3-2 Chicago Fire
May 25, 2013 Real Salt Lake 1-1 Chicago Fire
May 9, 2012 Real Salt Lake 0-0 Chicago Fire
September 28, 2011 Real Salt Lake 0-3 Chicago Fire
June 22, 2011 Real Salt Lake 0-0 Chicago Fire

Prediction: Chicago Fire 1-0 victory. The Fire are the team in better form at the moment, and have looked particularly good this season while playing at home. Expect them to outplay RSL, but also be prepared for Chicago's inferior finishing talent to fail to put away chances, this keeping Salt Lake in the game until late on.