Wednesday's round of MLS fixtures sees the first and last sides in the Western Conference go head to head as Los Angeles FC take a trip to the PNC Stadium to face Houston Dynamo.
The Orange Crush will be seeking to end their winless run and get one over the visitors, having failed to win any of the last seven meetings between the sides since August 2018.
Match preview
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Paulo Nagamura watched on as his Houston Dynamo side imploded at the defensive end of the pitch once again as they fell to a late 2-1 defeat against Minnesota United at the Allianz Field last Saturday.
Having claimed a 1-0 first-half lead courtesy of Corey Bird's goal on the stroke of half time, the Orange Crush gave up two goals in the final 11 minutes of the game as an own goal from Fafa Picault and Luis Amarilla's 84th-minute strike.
Prior to that, Nagamura's men snapped their run of four consecutive defeats on August 21 when they came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against 10-man Colorado Rapids, with Sebastian Ferreira grabbing a last-gasp 95th-minute strike.
Houston Dynamo, who have now failed to taste victory in six consecutive games for the first time since going on a 16-game winless run between May and September last year, are currently rock-bottom in the Eastern Conference table after picking up 26 points from 27 games.
While they will look to end this dry spell, their next task pits them against a Los Angeles FC side who are unbeaten in each of the last seven meetings between the teams, claiming four wins and two draws since losing on penalties in the US Open Cup semi-finals back in 2018.
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Steven Cherundolo's men were condemned to a second consecutive league defeat for the first time since May as they were thrashed 4-1 by second-placed Austin FC when the side squared off at the Q2 Stadium last Saturday.
After Diego Fagundez broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute, the hosts netted three quick-fire goals within 15 minutes of the restart courtesy of a brace from Maximiliano Urruti and Sebastian Driussi's 59th-minute strike before Cristian Arango pulled one back in the 61st minute.
This followed a disappointing 2-1 defeat against 13th-placed San Jose Earthquakes at the PayPal Park on August 21 which saw their run of seven consecutive MLS victories come to an end.
Despite last weekend's defeat against Austin, Los Angeles FC remain at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with a six-point cushion over Josh Wolff's men.
However, the Black and Gold will be desperate to put together a fine run of form away from home, where they are on a two-game losing streak and have managed just three wins from their last eight games across all competitions.
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Team News
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Houston Dynamo will be without 26-year-old defender Teenage Hadebe, who has missed the last five games after picking up an ankle injury back in July.
Despite his side's disappointing collapse at the defensive end of the pitch against the Loons, we expect Nagamura to name an unchanged centre-back four of Griffin Dorsey, Tim Parker, Daniel Steres and Adam Lundqvist for the third straight game.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Ferreira has been a standout performer for the Orange Crush and the 24-year-old striker, who has 12 goal involvements to his name, should spearhead the attack once again.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles FC will be without the services of American youngster Julian Gaines, who has been out of action since April through a knee injury.
The Black and Gold recently completed the signing of Spanish veteran Cristian Tello and the former Barcelona forward could be handed his debut on Wednesday.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Dorsey, Parker, Steres, Lundqvist; Vera, Herrera; Rodriguez, Baird, Carrasquilla; Ferreira
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Lineup here
We say: Houston Dynamo 1-3 Los Angeles FC
While Los Angeles have suffered a slump in recent weeks, they will be backing themselves against an out-of-sorts Houston side who have picked up just one draw and lost five of their last six games. We predict a one-sided contest with the visitors easing to all three points and extending their dominance in this fixture.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
