Houston’s four-match winning streak has been built on a stingy home defense, but Ben Olsen’s heavy rotation — five regulars missing from the XI — raises questions about continuity. San Jose arrive winless in five and missing key starters Jones, Werner and Kikanovic, threatening…
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Sign inHouston Dynamo meet San Jose Earthquakes in MLS Regular Season action on August 30, with the Dynamo riding a five-match shutout streak and the Earthquakes winless in their last five outings.
Houston head into the contest with a clean bill of health. The latest injury report from the Dynamo’s last match lists no players expected to be unavailable, giving head coach Ben Olsen a full squad to choose from.
San Jose, meanwhile, are dealing with a string of absences. Nonso Adimabua, Reid Roberts, DeJuan Jones and goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. were all listed as out injured ahead of the Earthquakes’ recent defeat to the LA Galaxy. That 1-0 loss also saw the visitors make eight changes to their starting lineup as they tried to address a defensive record that had shipped 12 goals in four matches after the mid-season break.
The Dynamo are the league’s hottest side. A 1-0 win at Vancouver Whitecaps last time out was their fifth consecutive shutout victory, equalling an MLS record. Goalkeeper Jonathan Bond has now gone 462 minutes without conceding and has kept eight clean sheets in 20 starts this season.
Mateusz Bogusz (four goals, one assist) and Brazilian forward Guilherme – who has scored seven times in his last 10 appearances – offer the attacking thrust. Defender Franco Negri’s long-range winner against Vancouver showed the team can hurt opponents from anywhere on the pitch. Houston are 6-0-2 in their last eight matches and 10-2-2 over their last 14, lifting them to second in the Western Conference with a 12-6-2 record.
San Jose’s season has stalled. Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to a 10-man Galaxy side extended their losing streak to three games, and they are now 0-4-1 since July 1. Despite outshooting Los Angeles 13-5 in the second half, the Earthquakes could not find an equaliser – Jack Jasinski’s 89th-minute header was saved – and they have been held to one goal or fewer in four of their past five matches.
Angus Gunn made six saves in that game in his fifth MLS start, but the 30-year-old had conceded 12 goals across his first four appearances. San Jose sit on a 10-7-3 record (33 points) and have lost just three of 10 road matches this year, yet their recent attacking downturn has left one of the Western Conference’s highest-scoring clubs searching for answers.
The contest pits the league’s most watertight backline against an attack that has suddenly gone cold. Bond’s shot-stopping and a disciplined defensive unit have turned the Dynamo into clean-sheet specialists, while the Earthquakes – who opened their last match with a 6-0 shot advantage in the first 20 minutes – are struggling to turn territory and possession into goals. How San Jose’s forward line copes with the Dynamo’s organised press and Bond’s growing confidence will likely determine the outcome.
A win for Houston would set an outright MLS record with a sixth straight shutout, while San Jose need to snap their worst run of the campaign to keep pace in the tightly bunched Western Conference playoff race.
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