Dynamo face challenge from Sounders to stay unbeaten at home: What to watch for
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo are back at home for the third game in eight days. They’ll host the Concacaf champion Seattle Sounders tonight looking to stay unbeaten at home. The Dynamo are coming off a 1-0 win on Wednesday over Sporting Kansas City in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Houston drew 0-0 with Real Salt Lake in its last league match. Seattle lost midweek in the Open Cup playing their reserves and lost 2-1 at home against Sporting KC last weekend in league play.
When: Saturday, May 12 | 7:39 PM CT kickoff
Where: Shell Energy Stadium; Houston, Texas
TV/Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: 97.5 FM (English), 93.3 FM (Spanish)
Third times the charm
Three games in an eight-day span can be tough on teams but it’s been nice for the Dynamo having them all at Shell Energy Stadium. Houston has still yet to concede a goal in their home confines, even after having to play down a man for 55 minutes on Wednesday with a heavily rotated team. The Dynamo go on the road next week for two road games before coming back home, so they’ll be looking to stay hot at Hell in the Shell and pick up maximum points.
About that defense
It feels like I’m mentioning the Dynamo defense each week in these previews, but they continue to be impressive. Even without Teenage Hadebe last week, who will miss a couple of months with a broken foot, the defense didn’t skip a beat with Micael at center back. Not only has the defense been impressive, but they’ve also been resilient since the season began.
:We're proud of the resiliency of our defense,” head coach Ben Olsen said this week. “Tate (Schmitt) goes out and we've got two starters going out, one with a season-ending injury and now Teenage (Hadebe) with the broken foot. It's going to be a couple of months till he returns. It's been a next man up mentality. Brad (Smith) is still coming along, Chase (Gasper) is still coming along. Both those guys have been out in different ways for a while. Then Daniel Steres filling in at right back, who's spent very little time at the right back position. Filling in there for a need. Franco (Escobar) going over to the left, where he never plays and filling in. They’re doing what we are asking of them for the team, for the benefit of the team, even though they're not in their natural spots. Then Micael coming in and doing a good job. Ethan (Bartlow) really growing. That part is all great.” Next man up is a cliché often used in sports, but this Dynamo team is taking it to heart and thriving.
Hobbled Sounders
Seattle became the first MLS team to win the Concacaf Champions League last season but then missed the playoffs for the first time in club history. They’re back at the top of the Western Conference this season but they’re coming off a surprising loss to winless SKC and are without several players. Even missing some of their key starters, the Dynamo know they’re still up for a challenge against the Sounders.
“They're good. It doesn't matter whether they win or lose,” Olsen told the media yesterday. “They are an experienced team. They've got good players. They're collective. They don't have a lot of weak spots and they expect to win. They have a culture of winning. They'll be ready. Yes, maybe coming out of some form that they're not used to. Maybe there's a little bit more fire in their belly to get a win. But we can't control that. We can control how hungry we are and how we approach the game. They don’t have many weaknesses and we've dissected them enough to know that there are ways to get something out of this game. If we can put those into play and can ride our luck and get a little bit of that home energy, some of the commitment and defending that we're used to on the day. Hopefully this can be the day that we click (offensively) and it's been hard to score goals in the run of play for us. We'll continue to keep working on it. One of these days it'll click.”
Availability Report
Houston Dynamo – Out: Ifunanyachi Achara (knee), Teenage Hadebe (leg), Tate Schmitt (knee); Questionable: Erik Sviatchenko (lower body)
Seattle Sounders – Out: Léo Chú (left midfoot sprain), Nouhou – (illness), Cristian Roldan (concussion protocol), Kelyn Rowe (left knee sprain), Raúl Ruidíaz (right hamstring strain), Obed Vargas (international duty)
Predicted Lineup
