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The Houston Dynamo head to Commerce City to take on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. The cold and high altitude haven’t been friends to Houston as they have struggled to beat the Rapids on their home field. The weather man is currently calling for morning snow showers and temps at a high of 41.
The Dynamo have had a mixed start to their season going 2-1-0 in MLS and crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions League. They were eliminated from the CCL tournament after losing back to back games to Mexican powerhouse Tigres. They followed up the elimination with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps two weeks ago. Homegrown midfielder Memo Rodriguez opened up scoring in the 15th minute of the game and would go on to score a brace in the game. The two goals helped him to a three goal total so far this season which makes him the goal leader at the club as well as ties him for first in the league for goals. Each side was awarded a penalty kick in the game that lead to a goal for each. Houston’s Alberth Elis also scored in the game to help the team to three points.
The Rapids have had a rougher start to their season as they are still looking to get their first win of 2019. They are currently 0-2-2 and sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference standings. They are coming off a 2-1 road loss to FC Dallas. Michael Barrios scored in the 35th minute for Dallas to give them the first half lead. It wasn’t until the 69th minute that Tommy Smith was able to get the Rapids on the board. Unfortunately for the Rapids they couldn’t hold the draw as Ryan Hollingshead put in a rebound of Tim Howard in the 82nd minute to hand Colorado a loss.
The Dynamo need to take advantage of Colorado’s struggles to get going early in games. Colorado gives up a lot of possession at the start of games and while possession isn’t always the way to a win for the Dynamo they can still use it to their advantage. If they can create a quick attack that plays to their advantage they have the ability to jump out to an early lead.
The game kicks off at 8pm CT on Saturday night.