FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo | 2018 MLS Match Preview

FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo 2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 27 Toyota Stadium — Frisco Sept. 1 — 8 pm ET WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

El Capitán is up for grabs as rivals FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo meet for the second time in nine days on Saturday night at Toyota Stadium.

Both teams are also entering the game off midweek losses, with the Dynamo dropping a 1-0 decision to the New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas falling to the San Jose Earthquakes for a second time this season.

This is the third meeting of the regular season with the teams playing to a pair of 1-1 draws at BBVA Compass Stadium one month apart.

Houston and Dallas have played to a draw in six of their last seven meeting and five straight, including a 1-1 finish in Houston on August 23.

FC Dallas

For a second time this season, FC Dallas (13-6-7) fell to the San Jose Earthquakes, dropping a wild 4-3 decision Wednesday night at Avaya Stadium.

Maxi Urruti put the visitors in front just eight minutes after kickoff, but Vako responded with a first-half brace to put the Quakes in front at the break. Santiago Mosquera leveled in the 51st minute, which sparked a four-goal explosion from both teams over the next 11 minutes with Dom Badji canceling out Magnus Erikssons equalizer. However, Chris Wondolowski scored the winner in the 62nd minute.

“It was a game with a lack of balance from our side,” Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja said. “When you score three goals in an away game and you dont get points, obviously something didn’t work well. Defensively we didn’t play well and that cost us the game.”

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left) GK: Jimmy Maurer — Reggie Cannon, Matt Hedges, Reto Ziegler, Marquinhos Pedroso — Carlos Gruezo, Victor Ulloa — Tesho Akindele, Pablo Aranguiz, Michael Barrios — Dominique Badji

Houston Dynamo

The winless streak for Houston (7-12-7) in league play extended to nine games with a sixth loss in the last seven games as the Dynamo fell to the New York Red Bulls, 1-0, at Red Bull Arena Wednesday night.

There were few scoring chances for Wilmer Cabreras rotated squad, who were punished in the 55th minute as the Red Bulls capitalized on a turnover in midfield to score the lone goal — Brian White’s first MLS tally.

“Sadly, we're still passing the ball to the opponents in order for them to score,” Cabrera said. “Thats what happened against FC Dallas. It was a mistake right there that we passed the ball to the opponent, and today again. We don't clear the ball, we just pass the ball to them. Those mistakes are killing us.”

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left) GK: Joe Willis — Andrew Wenger, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Leonardo, DaMarcus Beasley — Boniek Garcia, Darwin Ceren — Alberth Elis, Tomas Martinez, Romell Quioto — Mauro Manotas

Officials

Referee: Kevin Stott Assistant Referees: Adam Garner, Jeremy Hanson 4th Official: Daniel Radford VAR: Armando Villarreal