Dynamo welcome New England for rare meeting
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo welcome the New England Revolution to Shell Energy Stadium for the first time since 2022. The Dynamo lost 1-0 last Saturday in Seattle. New England beat Nashville SC 1-0 on Saturday.
When: Wednesday, October 2 | 7:40 PM CT kickoff
Where: Shell Energy Stadium; Houston, Texas
TV/Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: TUDN Deportes Houston 93.3 FM (Spanish)
Winding Down
The Dynamo have just three matches remaining in the regular season, including tonight’s game against New England. Even though they lost Saturday, Houston clinched a playoff berth for the second consecutive season. Now the focus shifts to getting as high as possible in the table and potentially getting home-field advantage in the first round. The Dynamo are currently in 6th place, two points behind Colorado and Seattle and one point above Vancouver. Houston will need to get to the top four to have home-field in the best of three first round. Three points tonight is a must if they want to continue moving up.
Getting Healthy
Ezequiel Ponce and Latif Blessing missed Saturday’s loss in Seattle and Hector Herrera has still yet to return from his injury. Head coach Ben Olsen said in his weekly pre-match press conference that all the players are back training and they will decide if and how much they play tonight. When asked if it is difficult to juggle playing Herrera to get a higher finish in the standings with keeping him fresh for the playoffs, the Dynamo boss said he doesn’t juggle it at all and relies on the sports science staff to tell him. With a home match against an opponent lower in the standings, will the Dynamo have two of their Designated Players back? If not, the team does seem to be getting healthy at the right time.
Gil Be A Handul
The Revolution have struggled this season and are currently 14th in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of last place Chicago. Even with their struggles, they still have a star in Carles Gil who Olsen called “one of the best players in MLS history.” Gil has six goals and five assists in MLS play this season. Gil and Giacomo Vrioni (nine) are the only Revs players with more than five goals this season and as a team they have scored just 33 goals in 31 MLS matches. They’ve also conceded 60 in those 30 matches which simple math tells you is two a match. If the Dynamo can limit Gil and his service to Vrioni, Houston should walk away with an easy three points tonight.
Houston Dynamo – Out: Lawrence Ennali (knee), Nelson Quinones (knee), Griffin Dorsey (yellow card accumulation); Questionable: Hector Herrera (hamstring), Ezequiel Ponce (thigh)
New England Revolution – Out: Thomas Chancalay (knee), Dylan Borrero (suspension); Questionable: Will Sands (foot)
Predicted Lineup
