Sports Mole previews Sunday's Major League Soccer clash between Houston Dynamo and Toronto, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Paying their first visit to Shell Energy Stadium since 2018, Toronto will seek to win consecutive Major League Soccer (MLS) away contests for the first time all season when they face the Houston Dynamo on Saturday.
Orange Crush have won their previous three domestic encounters, defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-3 last month, while the Reds claimed a 1-0 triumph over CF Montreal in their last league fixture.
Match preview
There are 10 regular season games left for Houston, who enter this contest six points above the Western Conference playoff line, with a chance to equal their longest winning run domestically in 2024 this weekend (three games).
It has been over a month since this side previously played an MLS encounter at home, claiming a 1-1 draw with Minnesota United, and increasing their unbeaten run at Shell Energy Stadium to six matches in this competition.
However, Ben Olsen's men have only won four domestic home contests in 2024 and can collect up to 10 victories at most by the end of the regular season, which would still be one fewer than a year ago.
After 24 league fixtures this year, the Dynamo have picked up 37 points, five more than they had at this stage of the 2023 campaign.
In the 2024 regular season, this team have failed to win six encounters when scoring first, dropping 15 points as a result.
Houston are unbeaten in their previous three regular-season affairs versus Canadian opposition, winning their last two games against Toronto by a combined score of 8-2.
By Saturday, Toronto will have had over two weeks to prepare for this upcoming encounter after exiting the Leagues Cup in the round of 32 with a 4-3 defeat versus Inter Miami.
Before the start of the Leagues Cup, John Herdman's men ended a seven-match winless run away from home in this competition with that victory against Montreal.
It was their first clean sheet in this competition since a 0-0 draw with the Philadelphia Union on matchday 16 and their first shutout victory away from home since matchday two (1-0 win over the New England Revolution).
Thanks to that, the Reds are holding down one of the final two Eastern Conference post-season berths, but only three points currently separate them in eighth from CF Montreal in 11th.
Just over half of their goals conceded in the regular season (26 of 47) have occurred away from home, with Toronto allowing three or more on five occasions.
It has been over a dozen years since TFC previously defeated the Dynamo in Houston, coming away with a 2-1come-from-behind victory in 2010.
Houston Dynamo Major League Soccer form:
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Houston Dynamo form (all competitions):
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Toronto Major League Soccer form:
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Toronto form (all competitions):
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Team News
The Houston Dynamo will be without Nelson Quinones for the remainder of the campaign as the Colombian is recovering from a knee injury.
In their previous MLS encounter, Griffin Dorsey's brace, along with goals by Brad Smith and Adalberto Carrasquilla, helped them win a back-and-forth encounter against Vancouver.
Toronto may not have Nicksoen Gomis available on Saturday due to a lower leg issue, Deybi Flores is questionable with a sore ankle, Tyrese Spicer is dealing with a lower back problem, Alonso Coello has a thigh injury and Brandon Servania is out for the season after rupturing his ACL.
Their only goal against Montreal last month came courtesy of Richie Laryea, his first of the MLS campaign, while Sean Johnson only had to make one stop to collect the clean sheet.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Dorsey, Sviatchenko, Micael, Escobar; Artur, Herrera; Carrasquilla, Bassi, Blessing; Ferreira
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Johnson; O'Neill, Long, Petretta; Bernardeschi, Thompson, Longstaff, Laryea; Osorio, Insigne; Owusu
We say: Houston Dynamo 2-0 Toronto
Although the Dynamo have not been quite as sharp at home in 2024, we believe they have more than enough quality to trouble a Toronto backline that have shown little improvement defensively throughout the season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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