FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 27
Toyota Stadium — Frisco
Sept. 1 — 8 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

El Capitán is up for grabs as rivals FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo meet for the second time in nine days on Saturday night at Toyota Stadium.

Both teams are also entering the game off midweek losses, with the Dynamo dropping a 1-0 decision to the New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas falling to the San Jose Earthquakes for a second time this season.

This is the third meeting of the regular season with the teams playing to a pair of 1-1 draws at BBVA Compass Stadium one month apart.

Houston and Dallas have played to a draw in six of their last seven meeting and five straight, including a 1-1 finish in Houston on August 23.

FC Dallas

For a second time this season, FC Dallas (13-6-7) fell to the San Jose Earthquakes, dropping a wild 4-3 decision Wednesday night at Avaya Stadium.

Maxi Urruti put the visitors in front just eight minutes after kickoff, but Vako responded with a first-half brace to put the Quakes in front at the break. Santiago Mosquera leveled in the 51st minute, which sparked a four-goal explosion from both teams over the next 11 minutes with Dom Badji canceling out Magnus Eriksson’s equalizer. However, Chris Wondolowski scored the winner in the 62nd minute.

“It was a game with a lack of balance from our side,” Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja said. “When you score three goals in an away game and you don’t get points, obviously something didn’t work well. Defensively we didn’t play well and that cost us the game.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: F - Francis Atuahene (left calf strain), D - Kris Reaves (left foot stress fracture)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Jimmy Maurer — Reggie Cannon, Matt Hedges, Reto Ziegler, Marquinhos Pedroso — Carlos Gruezo, Victor Ulloa — Tesho Akindele, Pablo Aranguiz, Michael Barrios — Dominique Badji

Notes: Mosquera’s goal on Wednesday night was the seventh time this season a FC Dallas sub has scored, tied for the fourth most of any MLS club. … With their loss on Wednesday, FC Dallas have now dropped three of their last five MLS games (1W-1D). However, they have lost once in their last 19 MLS home matches (10W-8D).

Houston Dynamo

The winless streak for Houston (7-12-7) in league play extended to nine games with a sixth loss in the last seven games as the Dynamo fell to the New York Red Bulls, 1-0, at Red Bull Arena Wednesday night.

There were few scoring chances for Wilmer Cabrera’s rotated squad, who were punished in the 55th minute as the Red Bulls capitalized on a turnover in midfield to score the lone goal — Brian White’s first MLS tally.

“Sadly, we're still passing the ball to the opponents in order for them to score,” Cabrera said. “That’s what happened against FC Dallas. It was a mistake right there that we passed the ball to the opponent, and today again. We don't clear the ball, we just pass the ball to them. Those mistakes are killing us.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Boniek Garcia
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - AJ DeLaGarza (torn left ACL), M - Juan David Cabezas (left quad injury), F - Mac Steeves (left hip injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Joe Willis — Andrew Wenger, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Leonardo, DaMarcus Beasley — Boniek Garcia, Darwin Ceren — Alberth Elis, Tomas Martinez, Romell Quioto — Mauro Manotas

Notes: Adolfo Machado tallied 12 interceptions on Wednesday, tied for the seventh-most by a MLS player in a match since 2015 (inc. playoffs). … Houston are winless in their last nine league games (6L-3D), one off the longest such droughts in franchise history set in 2010. They have just five goals in the last nine matches.

All-Time Series

Overall: FC Dallas 9 wins, 46 goals … Houston Dynamo 10 wins, 46 goals … 13 draw
At Dallas: FC Dallas 5 wins, 20 goals. … Dynamo 3 wins, 18 goals … 7 draws
Last meeting at Dallas: FC Dallas 3, Houston Dynamo 3 (August 23, 2017)