Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo meet in a vital clash in the Western Conference up in Seattle with the home side narrowly ahead of the Texas outfit after a topsy-turvy run of form for the Sounders in recent weeks.
A few weeks back, Seattle became the first and only team to defeat Houston at their own ground after a 1-0 victory. It was also the first time Houston conceded a goal at home, but although the 2015 MLS Cup winners secured a fantastic result that day, Seattle have gone on to win only one game since then.
That victory was in a 1-0 win at home to the New York Red Bulls, as the club have gone on to lose to Austin, Vancouver Whitecaps, San Jose Earthquakes and Los Angeles FC in recent weeks. This, alongside draws with Charlotte, Orlando City and Charlotte mean that Seattle have moved down into third in the table and sixth in the overall standings.
They still have one of the best defensive records, however, with six clean sheets this season and just 18 goals let in - no side in the Western Conference have let in fewer.
As for Houston, the club come into this one two points behind Seattle in the table and with eight wins and eight losses. However, they have managed to beat Los Angeles twice in the past few weeks by scoring a total of five goals, while they have also secured a 4-1 victory over Chicago Fire to put them into the last four of the U.S. Open Cup.
As well as this, they've also beaten San Jose Earthquakes by the same scoreline, although they did lose to Austin for the third time this season just last weekend.
The majority of the success Houston have seen this season has come at home, as only Seattle have beaten them on their own patch. The Dynamo have won just two games on the road in MLS this year and we think this should be the time that Seattle returns to the win column.