Match Day Preview: Houston Dynamo vs Portland Timbers

The Dynamo returns to their comfortable confines of BBVA Compass Stadium to challenge the Portland Timbers this Sunday in a game that has both teams looking to start putting some games in the victory column after disappointing starts to their seasons. The Dynamo are coming off a midweek loss to the New York Red Bulls, which saw the men in orange lose 4-0, while the Timbers last saw action April 19^th in a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake.

The Dynamo will look to return their winning ways at home and they'll do that with the help of a full strength back line. Kofi Sarkodie will be rejoining first team action after serving his one game suspension following his curious sending off against the Philadelphia Union. The Dynamo also look to get back their Captain Brad Davis who participated in practice Friday and has been out with a nagging ankle injury suffered in the derby match against FC Dallas.

One cannot count the Portland Timbers out as they have both rest and a desire to get their first win of the season. BBVA Compass Stadium is usually not an easy place to get a win at, but the Dynamo fell once at home already this season and their form over the last few matches may see Portland get their first W.

The Dynamo meanwhile is in dire need of a resurgence and this is the type of game they cannot afford to lose. If the Dynamo want to start a winning streak, and now is as good a time as any, they'll need to follow a few keys to the game:

1)    Find the Net:

The Dynamo haven't scored in their last three matches and if you want to win you have to score. Whether or not Dominic Kinnear continues to use Will Bruin and Giles Barnes up top, the goals need to come from somewhere. That means our forwards need to start scoring, or someone else needs to pick up the slack.

2)    Limit Defensive Collapses:

The Dynamo have conceded ten goals in their previous four matches and while one of these games the Dynamo were down a man, the number of times players get caught watching the ball instead of their man and the number of poor turnovers must stop if they want to start winning games. The Dynamo may also be without midfielder Ricardo Clark after he picked up an injury in the loss to NY which means Warren Creavalle may fill in and he'll look to put any doubt about his talents to rest following his performance against NY.

The Dynamo's offense must support the defense by scoring, and the defense must not dig a hole too deep for the offense to get out. It's really that simple. They must find a way to win, at home no less, in front of their fans to show that they can still get results. It won't be easy against a very talented Portland side that is underperforming, but the same thing can be said of our Dynamo. The match kicks off on Sunday at 2 PM Central.