The Houston Dynamo welcome Sporting Kansas City for the first of back-to-back encounters this week on Wednesday night (7 pm. | TICKETS). Originally scheduled for August 26, the encounter was postponed due to Hurricane Harvey.
Sporting comes to Houston as the second place team in the Western Conference but are only in front of the Dynamo by five points. Houston could potentially jump SKC in the standings – and clinch a playoff berth – after both head-to-head encounters this week.
“It’s a good moment and a great opportunity for all of us to achieve the goal that we are looking for,” said head coach Wilmer Cabrera. “[Wednesday] is a key game against one of the top teams in the Western Conference, so we just need to keep our focus, and we have to understand that everything is on the table for anyone.”
The edge looks to be in Houston’s favor for Wednesday’s match as the Dynamo hold a 10-1-4 record at BBVA Compass Stadium this season. Kansas City’s record on the road is 2-6-7, though they did pick up a win in Houston during the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup back in June.
This time, however, the stakes are much higher as both clubs look to clinch a ticket to the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs as soon as possible. Sporting could clinch as early as Wednesday if they don’t lose while the Dynamo want to conjure up all available points to attain a higher seed.
“Every minute matters, every second matters, and every game matters,” said midfielder and team captain Ricardo Clark. “We have to take every one of our chances, however little or however many we get. We just have to be concentrated in and around the box and be sharp. That is all up to our midfielders and forwards and I think they are up to the task.”
Both teams’ depth will be tested as Wednesday’s match comes less than 24 hours removed from World Cup qualifiers, meaning international absences will play a factor. DaMarcus Beasley, Adolfo Machado, Romell Quioto, Alberth Elis and Boniek García are the Dynamo players coming back from their national teams, while Kansas City will miss Matt Besler, Graham Zusi, and Benny Feilhaber.
As far as the injury report, the Dynamo will be without midfielder Memo Rodriguez (right knee sprain) and Juan David Cabezas (right hamstring) is questionable. The good news is the Dynamo will be able to count on two of their top goal generators in leading scorer Erick Torres and assist leader Alex.
Mid-season additions to the roster like Tomás Martínez and Philippe Senderos are also likely to be called upon on Wednesday night. The 22-year-old Argentinian, in particular, expressed his excitement for the challenge of qualifying for his first MLS Cup Playoffs.
“We are going to give it our all, knowing how tough the opponent is, and we are going to play well,” said Martínez. “We all want to make it into the playoffs, we are motivated and we are ready to play these last three games.”
