Houston Dynamo at Sporting Kansas City

When: Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Children’s Mercy Park
How to Watch: MLS Season Pass

Head-to-Head:

Record
SKC: 2W-4L-5D
HOU: 4W-4L-4D

Last Result
SKC: 2-1 Win at Union Omaha (US Open Cup)
HOU: 3-3 Loss (Penalties) vs Detroit City FC (US Open Cup)

PREVIEW:

Sporting Kansas City return home after a midweek trip north to Omaha ended with a dramatic 2-1 win in extra time to advance to the Round of 16 in the US Open Cup. Peter Vermes’ men host the Houston Dynamo who sit two spots above in the Western Conference.

Kansas City has not taken all three points in a regular season match since defeating Toronto FC 3-1 on the road on March 3o, and they will be looking to position themselves back into a playoff spot and turn their fortunes around.

As far as injuries for SKC go:

Questionable
Dany Rosero – Quad
Remi Walter – Knee

Out
Logan Ndenbe – ACL
Kayden Pierre – Ankle

And for Houston:

Questionable
Franco Escobar – Lower Body

Out
Sebastian Ferreira – Lower Body
Nelson Quinones – Knee

Kayden Pierre the only addition to the injury report for #SportingKC https://t.co/7GGJlRGPbt

— Mike (@downthebyline) May 10, 2024

Kayden Pierre will be out after earning minutes in the last few matches, but in all likelihood, the fullback pairing of Tim Leibold and Jake Davis will be back to starting on the pitch.

The two sides met to open the 2024 season at Shell Energy Stadium back on February 24. It ended in a 1-1 draw with goals from Erik Thommy and Gabriel Segal.

To this point, neither side has shown the same potential as the two that met in the conference semifinal in 2023. Houston, who was amongst the highest scoring teams in the West in 2023, have only managed to find the back of the net 9 times in the first 10 games of the season. In the regular season, Houston is on a three game scoreless streak, two of those games at home.

And as if goal-scoring woes weren’t enough, Houston were eliminated by USL Championship side Detroit City FC in the US Open Cup where they drew 3-3 after 120 minutes and lost the penalty shootout. Safe to say the team is in a rut.

And although the past few regular season matchups have gone Sporting’s way, there is something about this rivalry that always brings the best out of both clubs. Maybe it’s the type of game they need to turn their season around before it’s too late.

Sporting is tied for sixth with 18 goals scored this season yet are tied for fourth worst when it comes to goals allowed (19). To add to that, SKC have had the lead in three of their last five regular season games yet have come up with a mere two points in that span.

Breakdown: Sporting Kansas City too methodical?

But all of that is in the past. I like to think scoring in the 120th minute against a USL League One side in the US Open Cup to advance with many starters playing significant minutes is a wakeup call the team needed.

120' | MOMENTS BEFORE A SHOOTOUT, PULIDO EARNS US THE VICTORY!

1-2 | #OMAvSKC pic.twitter.com/rooiHxz93v

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) May 9, 2024

The attacking lineup has failed to impress by their own standard. Thommy leads the team in scoring (4) ahead of Alan Pulido (3) and Willy Agada (3). Johnny Russell has yet to find the back of the net and Daniel Salloi has scored once (kind of, FOTMOB called it an own goal).

It’s a much better situation when compared to Houston at the moment who are led by Ibrahim Aliyu (3), meanwhile no other goal-scorer on the roster has more than one goal.

But after the turnaround last season, it’s obvious that Sporting has the talent to go on a run and what better time to start the run than against those guys in orange.

24 hours ⏳

🆚 @HoustonDynamo
🗓️ Tomorrow
🕢 7:30PM
🎟️ https://t.co/ngnhDLbY6A#SKCvHOU | #SportingKC pic.twitter.com/flvmRdT0xG

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) May 11, 2024

A rivalry is a rivalry and although the season opener was the official rematch of the conference semifinal, this match will feel like a continuation. The body language from both sides is different when they are on the pitch together.

Prediction:

I usually like to go reverse-psychology and predict we will lose in hopes of my negative energy actually conjuring up a victory, but I actually feel confident that Sporting will pull off a win in an important match. It may not be the biggest game of the season, but it could be one of those games we look back on in October and see it as a moment the season shifted.

2-0 Kansas City win.