Houston Dynamo will look to bounce back to winning ways in the MLS this week when they take on the New England Revolution at Shell Energy Stadium on Thursday.
The hosts enter this match in sixth place in the Western Conference standings with 48 points, while the visitors are second bottom in the Eastern Conference with 31 points.
Match preview
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With just three games left to go until the end of the regular season, Houston find themselves in a tricky spot, just three points above Minnesota, who currently occupy ninth place and the final playoff spot.
Last week, the Dynamos suffered a painful 1-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders, who leapfrogged them into fifth place, with winger Paul Rothrock scoring the only goal of the match midway through the first half.
That result brought an end to a five-match unbeaten league run for Ben Olsen's side, which included three wins and two draws dating back to the start of the month, and was also the first time they had failed to score in an away match since May 16 against Austin.
Indeed, Houston have fared better on the road than at Shell Energy Stadium this term, picking up 26 points on their travels, which is the fourth-best tally in the league, while on home soil they have earned 22 points, ranking 18th across both coasts.
The last time the Dynamos faced the Revs was back in March this year when they suffered a 3-0 defeat, though they did come out on top when they met at this venue last season, which was also the only time Houston beat this opponent in their last five encounters.
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Meanwhile, after suffering a 4-0 defeat against Charlotte the previous weekend, the New England Revolution were in desperate need of a positive result when they hosted Nashville on Sunday and managed to eke out a narrow 1-0 victory.
The lone goal in the match against the Coyotes came from right-back Brandon Bye in the 86th minute from what turned out to be New England's only attempt on target across the entire 90.
With that, the Revs ended a five-match winless run which included two draws and three losses, a period during which they also conceded 13 goals and only managed to find the net on four occasions themselves.
Still, the victory over Nashville meant that Caleb Porter's men kept their final series hopes alive, now trailing ninth-placed Philadelphia by six points, though they do have a game in hand on the sides above them.
However, three of the Revs remaining four matches in the league are away games, and their form on the road has been exceptionally poor this term, managing just 12 points in 14 games and currently on a three-match losing streak.
Team News
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Houston's already fairly extensive absentee list was added to in their match against the Sounders, with Griffin Dorsey crossing the yellow card threshold for the season which will force him to sit out this one.
The full-back will be joined on the sidelines by the likes of Nelson Quinones (knee), Lawrence Ennali (cruciate ligament), Hector Herrera (muscle), Ezequiel Ponce (muscle) and Latif Blessing (knock), all of whom are ruled out through injury.
New England, on the other hand, are likely to be missing just two players for the midweek trip to Texas, with Tomas Chancalay out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and Will Sands flagged as a doubt with an injured foot.
The Revs will be able to welcome Dylan Borrero back to action this week, though, with the midfielder having now served his ban for the red card he was shown against Charlotte a couple of weeks ago.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Escobar, Sviatchenko, Micael, Smith; Carrasquilla, Artur, Kowalczyk; Aliyu, Ferreira, Bassi
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Bye, Arreaga, Romney, Miller; Polster, Abdullahi; Langoni, Gil, Boateng; Vrioni
We say: Houston Dynamo 2-1 New England Revolution
While New England have dominated this fixture in recent seasons, their away form in particular this season has been well below the norm, and we feel they will struggle to contain the Dynamos on their home patch in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
