Previewing Houston Dynamo vs Santos Laguna with Eugene Rupinski
(image via Santos Laguna)
The Houston Dynamo return to Shell Energy Stadium tomorrow to take on LigaMX opposition in Santos Laguna. We talked to Eugene Rupiński who covers Santos and LigaMX at Golazo del Gringo to get some insight on Los Guerreros ahead of tomorrow night’s match.
What can you tell us about how Santos Laguna has begun this current season in LigaMX?
Santos has had a decent start to the season so far. They had a relatively rare loss at home to open the season but then bounced back to have a win on the road, which was equally rare. Then they drew Atlas 0-0 at home to give them four points and sit them smack in the middle of the table. There's still a lot of season left, but they're in a decent position as of now and should have some confidence built up after two good results in a row.
For Dynamo fans who don't watch much LigaMX, who are some Santos players that fans should keep an eye on?
Unfortunately their best player is goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo, who will miss a significant amount of time due to an injury picked up prior to the first match of the Gold Cup. Gibran Lajud is a serviceable backup, having been the starter in Tijuana for years and getting a few call-ups for México. Santos forwards are very entertaining to watch. Center forward Harold Preciado is a very physical forward and has a mean streak, which is something Santos hasn't historically had a lot of. He and attacking mid/second striker Juan Brunetta have a good chemistry, with Brunetta being a player with great ability on the ball to make players miss. Brunetta is also a free kick specialist, so look for him to shine from 20-30 yards out on dead ball situations.
What can we expect from Santos as far as their style of play? If you had to compare them to a team in MLS, who would that be?
It's difficult to compare their style of play to an MLS team, but I can tell you that they sit back and wait for the counter and prefer to have the wide players do a lot of the ball movement with Brunetta and Preciado being the destination more often than those making the journey. They kind of remind me of Philadelphia, however where they really remind me of the Union is their overall philosophy as a club of developing players in-house, making smart signings of free agents and players who may be undervalued, and selling those players on to bigger clubs.
How is the health of the roster and do you expect anyone to be unavailable Tuesday? What is your predicted lineup and prediction for the match?
Aside from Acevedo, I believe most everyone is healthy and should be available to go should head coach Pablo Repetto call their number. That said, in this competition it's impossible to tell if Repetto is going to look to play his best eleven or if he'll give a lot of minutes to players who are usually on the bench. I suspect he may have a good blend of regulars and super-subs playing in this tournament since he's still fairly new in the position and hasn't really seen some of the subs in starting roles or in game situations at all. Santos is a quality side however, and I would be shocked if they weren't a good test for the Dynamo.
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We want to thank Eugene for his time.
