Sports Mole previews Monday's Major League Soccer clash between Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles FC, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
With a win or draw on Sunday against Los Angeles FC, the Houston Dynamo will equal their longest MLS unbeaten run at Shell Energy Stadium from a season ago (six matches).
Orange Crush lost 3-2 to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, their first loss since May, while LAFC moved into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference with a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Match preview
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Before their match on Wednesday, the Dynamo had been climbing their way up the Western Conference table, riding a six-match unbeaten run.
However, for a third time in league play this year, Ben Olsen's men lost a match when scoring the opening goal, dropping nine points when doing so.
Those points have Orange Crush currently sitting seventh in the Western Conference, three points above the playoff line instead of being in fourth.
In 2023, Houston had the joint-most regular-season home victories along with St Louis City (11), but they would need to win their remaining seven fixtures at Shell Energy Stadium to equal that mark in 2024.
Around this stage of the previous domestic campaign, they found some consistency, suffering just two defeats from matchday 21 until the end of the 2023 regular season.
Three of their last four regular-season meetings with Los Angeles FC have ended in a victory for Orange Crush, who claimed their biggest-ever victory against them at home last year (4-0).
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Not even an intense El Trafico showdown against their bitter rivals could slow down the Black and Gold, who continue to rack up the points.
Over 70,000 fans packed the Rose Bowl to witness their game against the Galaxy this week, as the 2023 MLS Cup runners-up won for a sixth time domestically this season by a single goal.
Steve Cherundolo's men are now unbeaten in 10 consecutive league fixtures, their longest stretch without a defeat in any previous MLS regular season.
On Sunday, they can stretch their unbeaten run away from home in this competition to six matches, setting a new single-season club record.
Los Angeles FC have won all 10 of their domestic encounters this year when leading at the half, accounting for 30 of their 43 points.
The Black and Gold are winless in their previous three away matches versus the Dynamo, winning only one regular-season game against them in Houston (3-1 in 2019).
Houston Dynamo Major League Soccer form:
- D
- D
- D
- W
- W
- L
Los Angeles FC Major League Soccer form:
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
Team News
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Houston were missing Daniel Steres versus RSL because of a lower leg issue, McKinze Gaines sat out due to a lower-body ailment and Nelson Quinones is out for the year with a knee injury.
Franco Escobar will not be available for this encounter after the Argentine defender received another yellow card on Wednesday, while Adalberto Carrasquilla will probably miss another match, with Panama playing Colombia in the Copa America quarter-finals on Saturday.
An own-goal from Andrew Brody put them temporarily level with Salt Lake, while Ibrahim Aliyu netted his team-leading sixth of the campaign in a losing effort.
LA may be without Luis Muller, as he is struggling to recover from a hip injury, and Lorenzo Dellavalle has a torn ACL and will not return this season.
Timothy Tillman will have to sit out of this game due to yellow card accumulation and Cristian Olivera is unlikely to be available, with Uruguay battling Brazil in the quarter-finals of the Copa America on Saturday.
Kei Kamara notched the opening goal for them against the Galaxy, the 147th for him in MLS, good for second all-time behind Chris Wondolowski (171), with the winner coming courtesy of a Denis Bouanga penalty late in the opening half.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Dorsey, Sviatchenko, Micael, Smith; Herrera, Artur; Blessing, Bassi, Aliyu; Ferreira
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Palencia, Murillo, Long, Hollingshead; Duenas, Sanchez, Atuesta; Bogusz, Kamara, Bouanga
We say: Houston Dynamo 1-2 Los Angeles FC
When you are on the kind of roll that LAFC are currently on, everything seems to go your way, and we believe their momentum will propel them to another narrow triumph.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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