Houston Dynamo Hit the Road Looking to Build on Austin Victory

(image via Houston Dynamo FC)

The Houston Dynamo hit the road to take on an old rival, Sporting Kansas City. The Dynamo picked up a 3-0 win over Austin FC last weekend. SKC fell 4-0 on the road against LAFC in their last match.

When: Saturday, August 1 | 7:40 PM CT kickoff

Where: Sporting Park; Kansas City, Kansas

TV/Stream: Apple TV

Back On the Road

The Dynamo pack their bags for the first time since the league restart. After four points from two matches at home since returning, Houston now hits the road looking to keep accumulating points as they try and solidify a spot in the playoff picture. The Dynamo have seven points in seven road matches this season and they’ll look to add to that total tonight against a team much lower in the standings.

New Look Sporting

For years, Peter Vermes was the head coach at Sporting Kansas City. The club played a certain way under the hard-nosed manager and they achieved a lot of success. Vermes is now gone, however, replaced this season by Raphael Wicky. The Swiss manager has previous experience in Major League Soccer, having coached the Chicgao Fire before. Wicky and Sporting are in a rebuild, that is no surprise, but the Dynamo can’t take their foot off the gas against any team in MLS or they’ll pay the price.

Dynamic Duo

SKC may be struggling this season but they boast two of the better attacking players in the league. Forward Dejan Joveljic has eight goals this season and Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen called him one of the league’s best strikers in his weekly press conference. Behind him is Spaniard Manu Garcia, who pulls the strings in the Sporting attack. He has four assists this season and can be dangerous from anywhere on the field. Houston will have their hands full defensively with these two players.

Houston Dynamo FC – Out: Jimmy Maurer (head), Antonio Carlos (lower body); Questionable: Aliyu Ibrahim (lower body)

Sporting Kansas City – Out: Diego Borges (quad), Taylor Calheira (ankle), Justin Reynolds (hamstring)

Predicted Lineup