Enemy Scouting Report - St. Louis CITY SC
(image via KSDK)
The Houston Dynamo were embarrassed midweek in Vancouver, losing 6-2. Unfortunately, St. Louis CITY SC will be an even bigger challenge to face. You can just hope that another six goals, or more, aren’t conceded tonight when Houston takes on one of the best offensive teams in the league.
It took six games to find out that St. Louis CITY were human. The team from the Gateway City started off the season, not just winning, but trashing their opponents in the first five games of the season. They’ve hit a couple of bumps since then, but the flashes of greatness are still there, especially after losing forward Joao Klauss to injury for almost six weeks now. Luckily, for the Dynamo, Klauss might need another week to be available for selection. Now, let’s move on to players that the Dynamo will need to try and contain.
Again, Klauss will be out another week, but he has scored five goals and assisted on four more, all in just nine games. Just amazing. American forward Nicholas Gioacchini has stepped in and has bagged four goals of his own. The way that St. Louis press the opposition, starting with their striker, is extremely impressive. The pressure is well calculated, giving St. Louis a better chance of creating a quick breakaway by a forced error. Gioacchini has been a key component in this defensive scheme. German midfielder Eduard Lowen is another star player for St. Louis. Eduard is the vital heartbeat of the squad. He has four goals and five assists so far this season. Lowen has scored a couple of bangers from set pieces. Lastly, not necessarily the biggest treat of the bunch, but Tim Parker will take on his former team and will likely look to score a goal and make his reemergence with St. Louis that much sweeter.
The scariest part of all of this, is the fact that St. Louis City has no Designated Players in their squad, which are squad slots that Major League Soccer teams have relied tremendously on since their inception.
St. Louis CITY SC Season Record: 8W-4L-1D
Results in the last 30 days:
April 29 – St. Louis CITY SC 1-2 Portland Timbers
May 9 - Chicago Fire 2-1 St. Louis CITY SC (US Open Cup)
May 13 – Chicago Fire 1-0 St. Louis CITY SC
May 20 - St. Louis CITY SC 4-0 Sporting Kansas City
May 27 - St. Louis CITY SC 3-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
Past Match Staring XI (from mlssoccer.com)
There will likely be some variation but look to see many of the players in the graphic starting.
2023 Active Roster
Goalkeepers: Roman Burki, Michael Creek, Ben Lundt
Defenders: Jake Nerwinski, Joakim Nilsson, John Nelson, Joshua Yaro, Selmir Pidro, Kyle Hiebert, Jon Bell, Lucas Bartlett, Tim Parker
Midfielders: Njabulo Blom, Tomas Ostrak, Jared Stroud, Eduard Lowen, Celio Pompeu, Owen O’Malley, Akil Watts, Rasmus Alm, Aziel Jackson, Miguel Perez, Isak Jensen, John Klein, Max Schneider
Forwards: Joao Klauss, Nicholas Gioacchini, Samuel Adeniran, Indiana Vassilev, Caden Glover
Will Houston be able to stop the scoring machine that is St. Louis CITY SC?
