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After a 0-0 draw in Utah Tuesday night against the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Dynamo are continue their western road trip tonight against the San Jose Earthquakes. San Jose is also coming off a midweek drama, conceding late in a 1-1 draw against Sporting Kansas City Wednesday night. Tonight’s game will air locally on QuestTexas channel 55 with pre-game coverage beginning at 8:30 PM CT.
When Will They Win Again?
The Dynamo have not won since May 22, at home against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The last time Houston won on the road? August 25 of last year against Sporting Kansas City. The dry-spell this season has seen the Dynamo slide to 9th place in the Western Conference, on the outside looking in on the playoff picture. If this team has any aspirations of playing in the postseason, they’re going to have to start winning games. That seems like a very obvious because it is. Houston’s three wins are tied for the second least in Major League Soccer in 2021. It’s time for this team to string some wins together.
Shuffling the Lineup
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Tuesday’s draw at Rio Tinto Stadium saw one of the biggest shifts in the starting eleven we have seen this season. Teenage Hadebe made his debut, partnering at center back with Tim Parker. Sam Junqua played left back and we saw Adam Lundkvist at left wing. All 5 of the Dynamo’s Gold Cup players are still playing in the tournament and will be unavailable tonight. We could see even more shuffling of the lineup with Memo Rodriguez and maybe even Darwin Quintero getting a start. Darwin getting a start? I know it sounds crazy but....maybe?
Back to (Northern) Cali
Houston returns to northern California for the first time since 2019. The Dynamo did not play there last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Houston has a 4-7-2 record on the road against the Quakes with their most recent win in San Jose coming back on August 19, 2016. San Jose comes in to this game with just 12 points from 13 games and missing their talented youngster Cade Cowell, who was just called in to USMNT camp. The Quakes are always out for a bit of revenge against the “Old Quakes” so this game won’t be easy.