Pick the Houston Dynamo Lineup vs. New York City FC

It hasn’t been a successful stretch for the Houston Dynamo who dropped their last two home matches. The club now has to make up ground on the road which starts with a trip to the Bronx when they face New York City FC this Thursday. In the previous two losses we saw that the Dynamo struggled to break down teams that parked the bus on their lead. Houston will want to get out ahead early and not get too complacent defensively if they want to get three points.

Who Wilmer Cabrera decides to utilize will be a key factor to this match as well. Alberth Elis will not be available due to yellow card accumulation so his replacement will need to be ready to step up. I’d anticipate Mauro Manotas to start at the center forward position with Romell Quioto on one of the wings. Memo Rodríguez should be pegged to start over the suspended Elis, although we have seen Cabrera push Tomás Martínez out wide to have Tommy McNamara as the midfield playmaker. I would think that Cabrera starts Memo over McNamara, but I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

In the midfield, since I think Memo gets the start, I’ll predict Tomás Martínez as the central attacking midfielder with Matías Vera and Oscar Boniek García behind him. It’s a short turnaround in the next game so we could see Juan David Cabezas start over Boniek, but I think Cabrera prioritizes NYCFC over the tougher Philadelphia Union this upcoming Sunday.

Defensively the lineup is pretty straight forward with Maynor Figueroa and Kiki Struna at center back. Cabrera has gone back and forth this season between DaMarcus Beasley and Adam Lundqvist at left back, but I think if he were to give one the edge it would be Beasley. I’d expect Lundqvist to start Sunday, but I’ll say Beasley starts in New York. Right back has been an area of weakness for the Dynamo this season. A.J. DeLaGarza is and has been the number one choice there, but Cabrera has gone to Kevin Garcia at times. The Dynamo also have José Bizama as an option, though I think we’ll see AJ start until Bizama gets more time with the squad. Cabrera has also created another goalkeeper conundrum as Joe Willis had the number one job, but has since given minutes to Tyler Deric. Since Deric has been given the lead lately, I think he’ll start, but it could go either way.

My Projected Starting Lineup:

So who do you want to see starting against New York City FC? Let us know and please share your selections in the comment section below.