Houston Dynamo look to rebound from loss as they visit expansion side LAFC

The dim hope that the stars would align for the Houston Dynamo which would see them through to a playoff berth this season has been extinguished following their 1-4 loss earlier this week to the Seattle Sounders. They’ll remain on the West Coast for a Friday night contest as they do battle with expansion side LAFC. The two sides have been on very different paths this season. The Dynamo began the year hoping to continue their momentum following a trip to the Western Conference Finals, but were unable to even qualify in this year’s campaign. LAFC kicked the year off with high hopes, but as an expansion side, and have found their way into the playoff picture and are now looking to secure a high Western Conference seed.

The Dynamo are coming off a Monday night loss to Seattle which saw them concede 4 goals while only finding the net once. A big part of that was losing Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto to international duty which hurt the Dynamo’s ability to spread the field and play the quick counter attack. However, it is worth to note the team has struggled on the road all season as they’ve only managed to take three points away from BBVA Compass Stadium just once in 2018.

In the game against Seattle we saw former Dynamo Will Bruin open the scoring for the Sounders in the 18^th minute with Cristian Roldan doubling the lead for the home side in the 34^th minute. Houston tried to adjust to the pressure Seattle applied in the second half, but found themselves exposed too often which allowed a Victor Rodriguez brace to take the lead to 4 before DaMarcus Beasley would find the net for the Dynamo in the 87^th minute to eliminate the clean sheet for Seattle.

Los Angeles Football Club is currently sitting in the 3^rd position of the Western Conference with 53 points and were successful in their last outing against the Colorado Rapids. LAFC in their inaugural year have proven themselves dangerous at home and on the road. Last week they stood firm against the Rapids in Commerce City, Colorado with a 3-0 win. Defender Walker Zimmerman opened the scoring in just the 15^th minute before an Adama Diomande brace.

With the playoffs out of the picture for Houston and seeding important to LAFC, we’ll likely see very different approaches to this game by the managers. Dynamo Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera will be without several key players to international duty and will lean on his younger players. This probably won’t bother him too much as it will give Cabrera an opportunity to evaluate players ahead of the 2019 season. For LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley, he can see his team move up or down the Western Conference table depending on the result so expect an A-game from his side.