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Preview: Dynamo vs. Dallas FC

This Saturday the Houston Dynamo will welcome Dallas FC to BBVA Stadium for the first time this season to start this year’s Texas Derby. Spirits, emotions, and temperatures will undoubtedly be high in this match so let’s break down how the teams stack up against each other.

Last Match

The Dynamo are coming off of an incredibly impressive showing against Sporting KC, winning 4-2 this last Wednesday. Romell Quioto and Mauro Monatos scored two goals apiece, one of those being a gorgeous free kick from Quioto. Overall Houston showed up against SKC, certainly, there were some sloppy moments(the own goal comes to mind). But Houston was measured in their pressing to avoid a complete collapse in the second half while still imposing their own pace on the game. The Dynamo now move onto the semi-finals of the U.S. Open Cup, though their opponents are unknown as the draw date was pushed back. The win at home also extended their streak and made it six straight games played at home without a single loss(5W-1D). Meanwhile, Dallas FC will be coming into Saturday’s match with their own hot streak, having won three of their four. Dallas FC won their last match 3-1 against the Chicago Fire and never seemed particularly worried about getting the W.

The Teams So Far and What This Match Means

There’s no doubt that Dallas FC has been dominant this season, coming into Saturday with an 11-3-5 record and sitting atop the league standings. Though it is noteworthy to say that Dallas has struggled on the road this year, though not as bad as our Dynamo tend to do on the road. For Dallas, this will be a very similar game, at least in importance, as their last match against the Chicago Fire. Their goal has to be to show their dominance, to prove that they belong at the top of the table. Houston, on the other hand, might just be in an incredibly favorable position to be giant slayers here. As previously mentioned, Houston is dominant at home and is coming off an exciting win against current playoff spot holder SKC. The Dynamo offense seems to be clicking at the moment and there’s no doubt that all the players will be wanting to walk away with all three points from this match

Things To Look For

The one part of the field that Cabrera swaps players in and out of is the defensive midfielders. Ceren, Boniek Garcia, and Alexander have gotten the most caps but with only two spots to fill it will be interesting to see how he slots those. The last match against SKC, Ceren was on the right and Garcia on the left. It seemed like this was to try and quell counterattacks more quickly than usual but I’m not sure that Cabrera will be as concerned about that with Dallas. Of course, keep an eye out for Monatos and Quioto as they are both on fire. I’d also keep an eye out for how Dallas use Max Urruti in this match. Urriti has an incredible work rate and has taken 30 shots since just the beginning of June while not scoring once. He’s a hard case to deal with but it will be necessary for Houston to walk away from this with a win

Projected Starting 11
Dynamo: Seitz, Beasley, Senderos, Fuenmayor, Machado, B. Garcia, Alexander, Martinez, Quioto, Manotas, Elis
Gonzalez, Cannon, Hedges, Ziegler, Hollingshead, Gruezo, Ulloa, Barrios, Mosquera, Lamah, Urruti