Preview:St Louis City vs Houston Dynamo - prediction, team news, lineups

Seeking to snap their run of nine consecutive matches without a win, Houston Dynamo journey to Energizer Park to take on St Louis City in MLS on Saturday evening.

The Missouri outfit have won each of their previous three home games against Orange Crush, scoring eight goals and keeping two clean sheets, and will look to extend this two-year streak.

Match preview

St Louis City were left red-faced last weekend when they fell to a 3-2 defeat against a resilient Vancouver Whitecaps side after giving up their lead twice at BC Place Stadium.

Eduard Lowen and Joao Klauss scored either side of Brian White’s first-half equaliser to put the visitors on course for their first away win since March but Daniel Rios restored parity for the Whitecaps in the 79th minute before Thomas Muller converted a high-pressure penalty in the 14th minute of stoppage time to complete the comeback.

St Louis City have now lost five of their most recent six matches across all competitions — with a 3-1 home victory over Nashville on August 10 being the exception — and have failed to win 10 of their last 12 outings since the start of June (9L, 1D).

Having finished 12th in the Western Conference standings last term, David Critchley’s men are at risk of another year without playoff football as they sit 14th in the table with 21 points from 27 games, 14 points off the final qualifying spot with seven games to go.

Having picked up two positive results on the road after a woeful Leagues Cup campaign, Houston Dynamo were left empty-handed on their return home last weekend when they fell to a 2-1 loss against San Jose Earthquakes.

In an action-packed contest at the Shell Energy Stadium, Cristian Arango and Ian Harkes found the back of the net to put San Jose Earthquakes in a comfortable lead heading into the final half-hour before Antonio Carlos pulled one back in the 72nd minute.

With that result, Houston Dynamo have gone nine back-to-back games without a win across all competitions, losing six and claiming three draws, a run which saw them crash out of the Leagues Cup in the group phase after suffering defeats against Tigres, Mazatlan and Pachuca.

This poor run of results has been owing to their recent struggles at the attacking end of the pitch, where Ben Olsen’s side have netted just seven goals across the last nine matches since a thrilling 4-3 victory over San Diego on July 6.

Orange Crush must turn their fortunes around sooner rather than later in their quest for a third consecutive playoff appearance as they sit 12th in the West with 29 points from 27 games, six points off ninth-placed Austin in the final qualifying spot.

However, this weekend’s matchup poses a tricky challenge for Houston Dynamo as they have lost each of their last visits to Energizer Park, including a 2-1 defeat in the CONCACAF Champions Cup back in February 2024.

St Louis City Major League Soccer form:

St Louis City form (all competitions):

Houston Dynamo Major League Soccer form:

Houston Dynamo form (all competitions):

Team News

Michael Wentzel has been out of action since coming off injured after the game against Houston Dynamo back in June and the German defender is out of contention for this weekend’s tie.

Fellow countryman Cedric Teuchert is set to sit out his fourth straight game through injury while 30-year-old Rasmus Alm is recuperating from a hip problem.

As for Houston Dynamo, Pablo Ortiz added to their growing injury list last weekend after the 25-year-old defender was forced off after just 13 minutes against San Jose Earthquakes.

In his absence, Ethan Bartlow should be handed his 13th league start of the season, teaming up with Griffin Dorsey, Carlos and Fluminense loanee Felipe Andrade in the back four.

Andrew Tarbell (knee) and Nelson Quinones (knee) remain ruled out through injuries and will play no part in Saturday’s clash while Erik Sviatchenko has also been sidelined since June.

American forward Gabriel Segal has missed each of the last eight games since coming off injuries versus Mazatlan on August 2 and is also out of contention for the visitors.

St Louis City possible starting lineup:

Burki; Wallem, Kessler, Baumgartl, Padelford; Loewen, Durkin; Jeong, Ostrak, Hartel; Klauss

Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:

Bond; Dorsey, Carlos, Bartlow, Andrade; Kowalczyk, Artur, Urso; McGlynn, Ponce, Lingr

We say: St Louis City 1-0 Houston Dynamo

St Louis have struggled for consistency this season, but they will fancy their chances against a Houston side who have failed to win their last nine matches across all competitions. Critchley’s side boasts a 100% home record in this fixture and we are backing them to come away with the desired result this weekend, albeit by the odd goal.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.