The Houston Dynamo and Minnesota United FC face off for the first time ever on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. CT | TICKETS). It's an opportunity for the Dynamo to rebound from their 2-0 loss last week to the New England Revolution but head coach Wilmer Cabrera believes the expansion side will be anything but an easy three points.
“It’s a very tough game for us, because if we get comfortable and we don’t do our job, we can have a complication,” Cabrera said. “We respect every team and every team is going to be important for us. We have a lot of things to improve.”
Minnesota will be visiting the Lone Star State for the second straight week, falling 2-0 last weekend at FC Dallas. The Loons hold a 1-4-1 record this season (0-3-1 on the road) and have conceded a league-high 22 goals, 12 more than the next team.
Against the league’s worst defense, the Dynamo have the opportunity to rebound offensively after generating a season-low five total shots in New England. Forward Erick Torres, who sits atop the MLS scoring chart, didn’t have any shots against New England and is as eager as anyone to get back to scoring.
“More than pressure or more than saturating myself mentally, it’s a commitment,” said Torres of being the league’s leading goalscorer. “It commits me more, as a person and as a professional, to continue working very hard, to increase the number of goals. I am motivated, I am excited, I am committed to work. It commits me to keep putting the name of the Houston Dynamo among the first places.”
While much of the focus externally will be waiting for the offensive output on Saturday, Cabrera's emphasis continues to be on the defense. In the Dynamo’s five matches, injuries and lineup changes have forced the team to feature four different combinations on their back line.
“Right now, the most important thing – and I mentioned it to the players – we need to improve our defense,” said Cabrera. “We have to be able to give balance to our team. We have received goals every game and that is not good enough. That is a challenge that we have, that’s a task that we have to work on, we’ve been working on and we need to improve.”
The good news for the Dynamo is they have not conceded more than one goal in each of their three matches at BBVA Compass Stadium this season, all of them wins. Two more wins and the club would tie their home win total of five from last season.
“It’s a different year this year, we have players with more personality,” said midfielder Alex, the league’s joint-leader in assists. “The playing style of the Dynamo has improved from last year. I am happy for the changes this season has brought.”
