Houstonvs.Salt Lake

The Claret and Cobalt have failed to win any of their last 10 visits to the Shell Energy Stadium since August 2018 and will be looking to end this poor seven-year run.

Match preview

Houston Dynamo failed to get up and running in the new MLS season as they played out an uneventful goalless draw with Columbus Crew at the Lower.com Field last Saturday.

Before that, Ben Olsen's men kicked off the campaign with back-to-back home defeats, losing 2-1 at the hands of Dallas in February's season opener, one week before suffering a heavy 4-1 loss against 10-man Inter Miami.

This poor start to the campaign has been in keeping with their struggles in pre-season, where Ben Olsen's men managed just one win from their five warm-up matches while losing once and claiming three draws.

Houston Dynamo have come into this term looking to improve on their performance from 2024, when they finished fifth in the Western Conference standings before suffering a penalty-shootout loss against Seattle Sounders in the playoff first round.

Real Salt Lake, on the other hand, were sent crashing back to earth last Sunday as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against MLS debutant San Diego FC when the two sides squared off at the Rio Tinto Stadium.

Ariath Piol opened his account for the season to put the hosts ahead in the 17th minute but Franco Negri restored parity on the stroke of half time before Anders Dreyer and Marcus Ingvartsen scored stoppage-time goals to complete the San Diego comeback.

Before that, Houston Dynamo secured their first victory of the campaign when they edged out Seattle Sounders 2-0 to snap their three-game winless run across all competitions thanks to a first-half own goal from Nouhou Tolo and Forster Ajago's 79th-minute strike.

Next up for Pablo Mastroeni's side is a journey to Houston, where they have failed to win any of their last 10 visits, losing six and claiming four draws since a 2-1 defeat victory in August 2018.

While Houston Dynamo will be looking to end this seven-year hoodoo, recent results on the road offer little optimism as they have failed to win nine of their most recent 10 competitive matches, losing five and picking four draws since the start of July.

Houston Dynamo Major League Soccer form:

Houston Dynamo form (all competitions):

W

L

L

L

L

D

Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer form:

Real Salt Lake form (all competitions):

L

D

L

L

W

L

Team News

Houston Dynamo will have to cope without Colombian forward Nelson Quinones, who continues his long road to full fitness after picking up a knee injury back in February 2024.

Lawrence Ennali has also been ruled out since suffering a cruciate ligament tear in September while new signing Duane Holmes is recovering from a severe leg injury.

Veteran defender Erik Sviatchenko missed the game against Columbus Crew last time out through injury and the 33-year-old is a doubt for this weekend's matchup.

As for Real Salt Lake, Jamaican forward Mathew Bell has been out of action since October through a hamstring injury and is out of contention for the trip to the Shell Energy Stadium.

He is joined in the club's injury table by first-choice goalkeeper Zac MacMath, who is yet to feature this year after suffering a back problem in November.

Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:

Tarbell; Dorsey, Bartlow, Awodesu, Escobar; Lodeiro, Artur, McGlynn, Kowalczyk; Ponce, Bassi

Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:

Cabral; Brown, Quinton, Glad, Katranis; Eneli, Ojeda; Marczuk, Luna, Goncalves; Piol

We say: Houston Dynamo 2-1 Real Salt Lake

While Houston Dynamo have stumbled into the new campaign, their home record in this fixture will give them plenty of optimism heading into the weekend. Real Salt Lake have struggled for consistency and we fancy Olsen's men to come away with the desired result at the Shell Energy Stadium.

Written by

Joshua Ojele

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