Two sides separated by one point and one place in the top half of the Western Conference table go head to head on Wednesday as Houston Dynamo play host to Vancouver Whitecaps.
Having failed to win on their last five visits to the Shell Energy Stadium, Vanni Sartini's men will head into the midweek clash looking to get one over the hosts and move level on points with second-placed Los Angeles FC.
Match preview
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Houston Dynamo maintained their solid run of results in the season run-in as they cruised to an emphatic 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake when the two sides squared off last Sunday.
Amine Bassi, Griffin Dorsey, Sebastian Kowalczyk and Ezequiel Ponce all found the back of the net to fire the hosts to a comfortable win and hand the Clarets and Cobalt their seventh league defeat of the season.
Houston Dynamo have now won two of their three games in September — scoring six goals and conceding just once — with a goalless draw against Los Angeles FC on September 8 sandwiched between the two victories.
With 44 points from 28 matches, Ben Olsen's men are seventh in the Western Conference standings, one point and one place behind Wednesday's visitors who have one game in hand, and just four points above eighth-placed Portland Timbers outside the automatic playoff places.
While Houston Dynamo will look to pick up where they dropped off against Real Salt Lake, they face the stern challenge of taking on an opposing side who have won each of their last four games on the road since a 1-1 draw at Montreal on July 7.
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Vancouver Whitecaps, on the other hand, made light work of San Jose Earthquakes as they picked up a comfortable 2-0 victory when the two sides squared off on Saturday night.
Thirty-three-year-old striker Fafa Picault opened the scoring at BC Place to hand the hosts a 35th-minute lead before former Southampton man Stuart Armstrong put the result beyond reach in the 86th minute.
Since crashing out of the Leagues Cup in the round of 32 courtesy of a 2-0 defeat against Mexican outfit Pumas on August 8, Vancouver Whitecaps have gone four consecutive games without defeat across all competitions, claiming three wins and one draw while scoring four goals and keeping four clean sheets.
This fine run of results has seen Vanni Sartini's men book their spot in the final of the 2024 Canadian Championship as they secured a 1-0 victory over Pacific FC in the semi-finals on August 28 thanks to an 11th-minute strike from Ryan Gauld.
With Sunday's victory, Vancouver Whitecaps are now unbeaten in eight of their last nine MLS matches — picking up six wins and two draws since late June — a run which has seen them surge into the automatic playoff places.
While the Whitecaps will look to keep the ball rolling on Wednesday and continue their strong end to the regular season, they will need to be at their best at the Shell Energy Stadium, where they have failed to win their last five visits, losing four and picking up one draw since a 2-1 victory in March 2018.
Team News
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Houston Dynamo will take to the pitch without the attacking duo of Gabriel Segal and 22-year-old Nelson Quinones, who are currently recuperating from head and knee injuries respectively.
Lawrence Ennali had missed each of the home side's last two games since sustaining a knee problem against Los Angeles FC on September 1 and the German striker is also out of contention for Wednesday's clash.
Veteran midfielder Hector Herrera was forced off injured shortly before half time against Real Salt Lake at the weekend and the 34-year-old is a major doubt for Olsen's men.
Meanwhile, Vancouver Whitecaps remain without the services of Andres Cubas and American goalkeeper Joe Bendik, who had been ruled out through shoulder and back injuries respectively.
Experienced striker Brian White has missed each of the last three matches due to concussion protocol but the 28-year-old could return to the fold on Wednesday.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Dorsey, Sviatchenko, Micael, Steres; Kowalczyk, Artu; Carrasquilla, Bassi, Aliyu; Ponce
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Utvik, Veselinovic, Blackmon; Ahmed, Vite, Priso-Mbongue, Schopf, Adekugbe; Gauld, Picault
We say: Houston Dynamo 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
With just one point separating Houston Dynamo and Vancouver Whitecaps, we expect both sides to go all out at the Shell Energy Stadium as they look to secure a potentially huge result in their playoff qualifying quest.
Buoyed by their stunning display against Real Salt Lake, we fancy Houston Dynamo to secure all three points on home turf, where they have lost just one league game since the start of May.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
