Enemy Scouting Report - Detroit City FC
(image via Detroit City FC)
The Houston Dynamo are coming off a scoreless draw against St. Louis CITY SC over the weekend and now enter another competition. All eyes now turn to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup where the club will look to defend their title after winning the 2023 tournament. The run will start for Houston tonight against USL Championship side Detroit City FC.
Like Dynamo, Le Rouge, are not in their best form in their last couple of games. Detroit, who are coached by former Toronto FC striker Danny Dichio, are currently sitting in third in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship table with 16 points in 7 games played. Detroit City started the season with a five-match winning streak before losing against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on April 27 and drawing with Loudoun United in their last match.
Much of Detroit’s recent success has been led by the great form of midfielder Maxi Rodriguez who has been a revelation for the club since arriving in 2021. The San Antonio native has spent his entire career in the USL Championship but had gone mostly unnoticed early on. But as mentioned earlier, Maxi has found his groove in Detroit. He has played more than 100 games for the club, scoring 29 goals and chipping in 12 assists. Rodriguez is by far the best player for Detroit and Houston will need to contain him. Another player to watch will be Elvis Amoh. The Ghanaian striker recently arrived from Hartford Athletic. He has only scored one goal with Detroit, but he is a physical attacker that gets in dangerous positions. Houston’s defense will need to be ready in hopes of not being upset in their first match of the tournament.
Detroit City FC Record (USL Championship): 5W-1D-1L
Results in the last 30 days:
April 6 - Detroit 1-0 North Carolina
April 16 - Detroit 1-0 Michigan (US Open Cup)
April 20 - Detroit 3-1 Oakland
April 27 - Pittsburgh 2-0 Detroit
May 4- Loudoun 0-0 Detroit
Past Match Staring XI (from fotmob.com)
There will likely be some variation but look to see many of the players in the graphic starting.
2024 Active Roster
Goalkeepers: Nate Steinwascher, Carlos Saldana
Defenders: Rhys Williams, Alex Villanueva, Stephen Carroll, Matt Sheldon, Brett Levis, Devon Amoo-Mensah
Midfielders: Ryan Williams, James Murphy, Abdoulaye Diop, Ali Coote, Connor Rutz, Michael Bryant, Daniel Espeleta, Maxi Rodriguez, Dominic Gasso
Forwards: Victor Bezerra, Ben Morris, Elvis Amoh, Yazeed Matthews
Can Houston move on to the next round in the USOC as they attempt to defend their title?
