The first-place Seattle Sounders will bring a slim lead in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference into Saturday’s match at the Houston Dynamo, a team the Sounders have dominated for six years.
Seattle (6-3-2, 20 points) has won 10 of its last 11 games against Houston (4-3-2, 14 points) going back to June 2017. The Sounders are the second team since 2000 to win 10 games in 11 matches against a single opponent.
It’s a battle of a good road team against a successful team at home. The Sounders are 2-1-1 in their last four away matches, and the Dynamo are 4-0-1 in five matches at Shell Energy Stadium.
Seattle is coming off a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City at home last Sunday. Kansas City had a lead in the fourth minute and the Sounders managed to score only off Nico Lodeiro’s penalty kick in the 66th minute.
Jordan Morris is tied for the MLS lead in goals with eight, but he has not scored in his last five games. Seattle will have midfielder Joao Paulo back from yellow card accumulation suspension.
“Defend well, stop giving up goals and score some goals ourselves,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said when asked about the keys to the game for his team.
The Dynamo played to a scoreless draw at home last week against Real Salt Lake. In a U.S. Open Cup match on Wednesday, Houston defeated Sporting Kansas City 1-0 to advance in that tournament.
Houston has seven shutouts across all competitions this season, including five straight MLS matches at home. No team has ever held opponents scoreless in six straight home matches to start a season.
“We’re a team that is constantly trying to get better on the offensive end,” Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen said. “We want to score goals, too. Win 4-0. Until that starts to click, it’s nice to be able to hang your hat on a good defensive shape.”
Amine Bassi leads Houston with five goals.
–Field Level Media
