Coming off a huge 3-1 win over the Portland Timbers, the Seattle Sounders now must travel halfway across the country on a short week and take on the Houston Dynamo. Seattle enters this game on a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1, W-L-T) while Houston picked up just their second win in 13 games last week against the San Jose Earthquakes. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 pm ET and can be seen on MLS LIVE, JOEtv (Seattle) and ROOT Sports SW (Houston).
Second of three meeting in 2016
This will be the second meeting of three this season between these two clubs. Last time out, the two played to a 1-1 draw on April 10th. Houston got their goal from Giles Barnes in the 35th minute of the game. It appeared that Houston would walk away with the three points but Chad Marshall equalized in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to salvage a point for the visitors.
This is the third consecutive game being played in Houston. The previous two games both ended 1-1. Seattle will hope to continue their climb out of the basement of the Western Conference standings while Houston will want to play spoiler like they did against the Earthquakes.
Seattle dangerous as they come
Seattle, over the last four weeks, has become one of the most dangerous teams in the league. They have averaged 2.25 goals a game since July 31st after averaging only 1.00 goals per game in their first 20. That brings their total goals per game to 1.21 on the season, not great but much better than it was the first four months of the season.
After having scored only three goals in his first 14 games of the season, Clint Dempsey has come to life these last three games for Seattle. In his last three games, all wins, Dempsey has scored five goals and is now tied for the team lead with Jordan Morris with eight goals each.
Not one thing can be the main reason for the revival of Seattle but the addition of Nicolás Lodeiro, the firing of Sigi Schmid and Brian Schmetzer's new 4-2-3-1 formation have all shared in the success and revitalization of Seattle’s attack and climb up the standings.
Houston won’t lay down
Even though they are at the bottom of the standings in the West, the Dynamo will not lay down. This is evident in their 2-1 victory over the Earthquakes last week. They scored the first two goals of the game and held on for dear life and secured their first road win of the season and first in over a year.
Houston will rely on their defense and goalkeeper Joe Willis. They may have given up 30 goals so far this season but if not for Willis, it would be a lot more. Willis has played in 16 games, 14 being starts and has faced 83 shots, saving 58 of them. He has given up an average of 1.5 goals per game (24 in 16 games). If Seattle can keep him under constant pressure, they should have a good chance at putting a few in the back of the net.
Houston has four players tied for the team lead in goals scored with four. Giles Barnes, Will Bruin, Andrew Wenger and Ricardo Clark lead the attack for the Dynamo. If Seattle can shut these three players down, and there is no reason they shouldn’t be able to do so, then the Sounders should walk out of BBVA Compass Stadium with three points.
Prediction
Since the Sounders joined MLS in 2009, they haven’t been able to win many games inside the state of Texas. Seattle has actually never won a game against the Dynamo in Houston. Since 2009 and counting the playoffs, Seattle is 0-4-3 against the Dynamo in the Lone Star state.
That will all change on Wednesday night in the Texas heat. Seattle has been rolling and has looked unstoppable the last month. Expect some alteration to the starting XI that Schmetzer puts on the field since they play Portland again this coming Sunday. Regardless of who starts for Seattle, the Sounders will walk out the victors on Wednesday. If the other games play out correctly, Seattle could find themselves sitting in the sixth and final playoff spot by the end of the night.