Real Salt Lake vs Houston Dynamo

America First Field is the venue as Real Salt Lake and Houston Dynamo go head-to-head in a mouth-watering Major League Soccer contest.

Salt Lake’s grip on the top spot in the Western Conference loosened at the weekend as a 1-0 home defeat to LA Galaxy demoted them to 3rd in the standings. Keen to return to winning ways and haul back a three-point deficit on new leaders Los Angeles, Claret & Cobalt can turn to a scintillating run of 15 unbeaten league games beforehand (W9, D6) for inspiration. However, two scoring blanks across their last three MLS outings suggest Pablo Mastroeni’s men are losing their lethal touch in the front third. On that basis, Houston’s visit seems well-timed, with Salt Lake hitting the back of the net in their last four H2HS (W2, D2 – 90 minutes only).

Visiting Houston eked out a precious 1-0 home win against Charlotte at the weekend to record back-to-back MLS victories for the first time since March. It was the last time they won three league games on the trot, a feat they’d be desperate to replicate now that 10th-placed Austin sit only three points behind them. Confidence is hardly in short supply for Ben Olsen’s team after accumulating a morale-boosting six-game unbeaten league run (W3, D3). On the downside, they had gone winless on four straight MLS travels (D2, L2) before a thumping 4-1 win at DC United last time out.