Looking to bounce back from two consecutive defeats, Houston Dynamo will travel to the Banc of California Stadium on Sunday to face Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer.
The hosts are second in the Western Conference, just five points behind the leaders, while the visitors are eighth with a four-point lead over 10th place.
Match preview
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Los Angeles came into the 2024 season aiming to make it to their third successive MLS Cup final, having beaten Philadelphia Union 3-0 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in the 2022 final and losing 2-1 to Columbus Crew in 2023.
Steven Cherundolo, who has been in charge since January 2022, saw his side get off to a stumbling start in the 2024 season, winning just four of their opening 11 MLS fixtures, losing four and drawing three.
However, Los Angeles went on a remarkable 13-match unbeaten run across all competitions, winning 12 of those games, which helped them quickly climb the table.
A crushing 5-1 defeat to Columbus Crew brought an end to that streak and threatened to derail their outstanding form, but Cherundolo's side has maintained their strong performances, losing just twice in the 10 matches since.
Cherundolo will be aiming for another victory on Sunday as his team trails Western Conference leaders Los Angeles Galaxy by just five points, with three games in hand on their rivals.
Houston have had an extremely inconsistent campaign so far, sitting eighth in the Western Conference and 14th in MLS standings with 10 wins, seven draws and eight losses from their 25 outings.
Ben Olsen's side come into this one having lost three of their last four, as well as back-to-back losses in their most recent outings, a run of form that the manager will want to improve in the upcoming outings.
The visitors will be looking to solidify their place in the MLS Cup playoff places with a victory as they trail the automatic qualification places on goal difference, though they have played one fewer game than the majority of teams around them.
Houston have struggled for results at the Banc of California Stadium, winning just one of the eight meetings between these two sides, including a 2-0 loss to Cherundolo's side in last year's MLS Cup semifinal.
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Team News
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Cristian Olivera, Lorenzo Dellavalle and Timothy Tillman are all ruled out of this match through injury problems, with the trio all expected to make their returns throughout September.
Denis Bouanga has scored 16 times in 24 league appearances for the hosts this term, as well as scoring six in his last six across all competitions, and the attacker is likely to play alongside Kei Kamara and Mateusz Bogusz in this one.
The visitors will be without Adalberto Carrasquilla and Nelson Quinones for this match with both expected to return to the side in September.
Houston have shared the goals out among their entire squad this season, with their top scorer in the league being Ibrahim Aliyu on six, and the forward is likely to play with Amine Bassi, Latif Blessing and Ezequiel Ponce here.
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Segura, Chanot, Long; Palencia, O'Brien, Sanchez, Campos; Bogusz, Kamara, Bouanga
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Dorsey, Sviatchenko, Micael, Escobar; Herrera, Artur; Blessing, Bassi, Aliyu; Ponce
We say: Los Angeles FC 2-0 Houston Dynamo
The hosts are enjoying a strong run of form heading into this game and have historically dominated this tie, and with Houston faltering in recent weeks, enduring three losses in four games, we expect a home win here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
