On Saturday, the Houston Dynamo will play match two of a three-match homestand to begin the MLS campaign, hosting the New York Red Bulls at Shell Energy Stadium.
Orange Crush came back to earn a 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City on matchday one, while the Red Bulls wound up with a 0-0 result against Nashville SC.
Match preview
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Ben Olsen hit the ground running in his debut campaign as Dynamo manager in 2023, guiding this team to a fourth-placed finish in the regular season and a US Open Cup title.
He leaned heavily on their deep-lying midfielders, who proved to be a handful to knock off the ball as that approach took this team into the Western Conference final.
The Dynamo improved by 15 points in 2023 when compared to the previous campaign, and their expectations will be much higher in 2024.
Houston began this campaign with plenty of possession, as expected on matchday one, having the ball for 61% of the time, but they were rarely able to unlock the opposing defence.
Going all the way back to the previous campaign, Orange Crush have collected at least a point in seven successive home fixtures.
They have emerged victorious from their last three home outings versus the Red Bulls in this competition, scoring four goals in each of those triumphs.
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As we have come to expect, the Red Bulls put together a sound defensive performance on matchday one, holding Nashville to a mere five total shots.
Going back to the 2023 regular season, this team have gone three successive matches in this competition without conceding a goal.
Last Sunday was the first regular season affair for Sandro Schwarz as their manager, and his team enter this contest unbeaten in their previous five matches in this competition away from home.
New York failed to win a single MLS encounter in 2023 versus a Western Conference opponent and have not beaten a team from that conference since July 2022 (4-3 over Austin FC).
Their 5-3 victory over DC United in September 2023 was the last time this team conceded a goal in the opening half, while they have not been behind in any of their last four regular season fixtures.
You have to go back to the 2013 campaign for the last time the Red Bulls defeated the Dynamo in Houston, winning 3-0 on that occasion.
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Team News
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Franco Escobar missed the regular-season opener for the Dynamo because of a sore leg, while Sebastian Ferreira is dealing with a hamstring strain.
Nelson Quinones and Hector Herrera could both be unavailable for Orange Crush this weekend as they are each dealing with knee injuries.
Gabriel Segal scored his first goal as a member of the Dynamo last weekend after being acquired from New York City FC in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft.
Both John Tolkin and Cory Burke will be questionable for the New York Red Bulls on Saturday as they are dealing with groin issues.
Curtis Ofori is still recovering from a sore ankle, while Serge Ngoma could be on the sidelines once again this weekend because of a hamstring injury.
Carlos Coronel stopped three shots for his first clean sheet of the campaign last weekend, Daniel Edelman made his 50th career appearance across all competitions and Emil Forsberg was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday last week.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Sviatchenko, Micael, Schmitt; Dorsey, Carrasquilla, Artur, Gregus, Smith; Aliyu, Segal
New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:
Coronel; D. Nealis, S. Nealis, Eile, Duncan; Morgan, Amaya, Edelman, Forsberg; Manoel, Vanzeir
We say: Houston Dynamo 1-0 New York Red Bulls
Both sides are solid defensive units, but we are giving the Dynamo the edge because they are at home and may have a little more space in the attacking third if Tolkin is not available as we anticipate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
