Match Preview: Sporting KC visits Houston Dynamo on Saturday

Sporting Kansas City at Houston Dynamo FC
2023 MLS Regular Season | Match 23
Saturday, July 8 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:39 kickoff)
Shell Energy Stadium | Houston, Texas

Broadcast Schedule:
Apple TV | Free on MLS Season Pass
English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM

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Sporting Kansas City will compete in one of the toughest road environments in Major League Soccer as the team travels to Texas to take on Houston Dynamo FC at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday in a simmering summer showdown at Shell Energy Stadium. Houston is 9-1-1 across all competitions at home, where the Dynamo have conceded only three goals in 11 matches and trailed for just 18 minutes this season.

The Western Conference clash will be broadcast free on Apple TV in English and Spanish in addition to local radio coverage on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with streams in the Sporting KC app. All of the action will also be shown by  pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network, including an enhanced watch party at Westport Ale House (4128 Broadway Blvd.) featuring drink specials and exclusive giveaways.

Sporting has faced Houston 43 times in all competitions since 2011, more than any other opponent, and the all-time regular season series is deadlocked with both teams going 13-13-14 and scoring 54 goals apiece. However, Sporting has been held scoreless in three straight trips to Houston, including a 1-0 loss in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 on May 10.

The Dynamo have since advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals and Houston enters Saturday’s match-up with wins in four straight home games in all competitions. Houston is led by head coach Ben Olsen – one of four individuals to have played and/or coached in 600 matches in MLS history along with Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes – with support from assistant coach Aurelien Collin, who won the U.S. Open Cup and MLS Cup during a memorable four-year stint with Sporting KC from 2011-2014.

Club captain Hector Herrera, who represented Mexico at three FIFA World Cups and who will compete in the MLS All-Star Game later this month, has contributed three goals and seven assists in 2023 while Dynamo newcomer Amine Bassi has recorded eight goals and three assists on the year.

A longtime teammate of Herrera’s with the Mexican National Team, Sporting KC striker Alan Pulido has scored seven goals in his last six matches – most of any MLS player since the start of June - and leads the team with 12 goal contributions (nine goals, three assists) across all competitions this season. The Designated Player was one of three players to score in Sporting’s 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC last weekend along with midfielders Remi Walter and Erik Thommy.

Sporting Kansas City has picked up the most wins (six) and points (21) in the Western Conference since the start of May and leads the league with 23 goals scored over that same span. The team now sits tenth in the West, one point out of playoff position, entering a stretch of three matches in eight days before a six-week gap between MLS matches to compete in Leagues Cup 2023.

Sporting KC will be without four players – Tim Melia (quad), Kortne Ford (Achilles), Graham Zusi (hamstring) and Willy Agada (tibia) – on Saturday due to injury, while midfielder Nemanja Radoja (adductor) is questionable on the club’s player availability report. Houston will be missing a handful of players as well with three injuries - Ifunanyachi Achara (knee), Teenage Hadebe (leg) and Tate Schmitt (knee) – in addition to Micael serving a red-card suspension and Adalberto Carrasquilla on international duty with Panama in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals.