The Houston Dynamo will face the LA Galaxy for the second time this season on Saturday and Houston looks to extend its unbeaten run since returning to competitive play on Aug. 20. The team has won four consecutive matches in that stretch, outscoring opponents 13-1.
The team enters the match in fourth place in a tightly contested Western Conference where eight points separate second place from tenth. Saturday’s game will feature three players recently named to their national team for the upcoming FIFA break. Captain Hector Herrera will join the Mexican National Team for a pair of friendlies in the United States, midfielder Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla will join Panama for group play in the Concacaf Nations League and goalkeeper Xavier Valdez will join the Dominican Republic for matches against Nicaragua and Montserrat.
Houston’s most recent victory came on Wednesday in a 2-0 triumph over the Columbus Crew at home. That was Houston’s 11th victory of the season and their 11th clean sheet of the season. Forward Corey Baird scored the opening goal, his 11th goal in all competitions this year. The forward has now scored in three consecutive regular season games. Herrera tallied an assist on the second goal after he found forward Aliyu Ibrahim in space in the final minutes of the match on Wednesday. Ibrahim scored his second goal of the season and Herrera was named to the MLSSoccer.com Team of the Matchday for his performance in the victory.
The Dynamo earned three points in the first meeting of the season, a 3-0 victory for Houston at home on April 8. Herrera scored a brace and forward Amine Bassi converted a penalty kick. That was the 14th victory in the series for the Dynamo who hold a slight edge in the all-time series with a 14-13-10 record. The series was split in 2022 with each team winning on the road.
The team will return to league play on Sept. 16 when they host St. Louis CITY SC at Shell Energy Stadium at 7:30 p.m. CT.
