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The Houston Dynamo are hoping to bounce back after allowing a stoppage time goal by the New England Revolution which prevented the club from earning the full 3 points last Sunday. This time they'll be going up against rivals FC Dallas who swept them all 3 meetings last season.
In last week's season opener the Dynamo showcased their new-look identity which featured a 4-2-3-1 formation which highlighted the offensive potential and the defensive pitfalls associated with it as the club finished 3 goals, but allowed 3 in their own net as well. Offseason acquisitions Cristian Maidana and Andrew Wenger both played important roles in the offense alongside Dynamo offensive fixtures Will Bruin and Giles Barnes.
Some of the defensive woes could have been due to an accumulation of injuries as regular right-back Sheanon Williams missed the season opener and left-back DaMarcus Beasley had to leave midway through the 2nd half of the match. Starting goalkeeper Tyler Deric also missed out and is expected to remain out this weekend. Beasley and Williams are both hopeful to play against FC Dallas, but should they remain out expect Abdoulie Mansally or Alex Lima and Jalil Anibaba to fill in at left-back and right-back respectfully.
My Predicted Starting XI
Another area of concern is in central midfield where Ricardo Clark paired with the versatile Alex Lima last week. Clark is recovering from an offseason injury and isn't quite 90 minutes fit while Lima picked up an injury against the Revolution. If Coyle doesn't opt to play one of them it should go to another newcomer David Rocha who saw time after subbing on for Ricardo Clark last week.
The Dynamo will need to defend well and show their attacking potential against one of the best teams in MLS in FC Dallas. With the injury concerns defensively, it's hard to predict how Coyle will cope, but the offense should remain similar to how the Dynamo lined up against the Revs. There are a lot of different possibilities and direction for Coyle to go in, but we'd like to know how you'd line up the Dynamo. Let us know how you'd take on our in-state rival and share your choices in the comments below!