Bradley Carnell can’t wait to get going again when St. Louis City returns to MLS action against Houston Dynamo on Saturday, two weeks after their last game.
St. Louis last played on April 21, when Tomas Totland scored a last-second equalizer to secure a 3-3 draw against rival Sporting Kansas City.
Carnell’s team has lost just one of its last eight MLS games, but five of them have ended in a level draw, leaving them ninth in the Western Conference standings, one point behind the Dynamo.
Speaking about the challenges of waiting a long time for a game, Carnell said: “The week off was nice, it gave us some time to plan the next few weeks and prepare for where we are going.
“There’s going to be a lot of games so it’s really important for us to do that. We cannot change the calendar and it is what it is.
“We are excited about the upcoming games, there will be many good teams among our opponents in the next few weeks.”
H Town pic.twitter.com/Mp4l8uFUsf
– St. Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) May 3, 2024
Houston, meanwhile, has lost three of its last four league games, including each of its last two, both against Texas rivals Austin FC (0-1) and FC Dallas (0-2).
Despite the downturn, coach Ben Olsen remains optimistic and is sure things will turn around: “I can take a loss and I will say the boys gave it their all, they keep fighting.”
“We’ll get back to work next week and try to make the fans proud.
“We prepare for St. Louis the same way we prepared for Dallas. We’ll just get back to work and carry on.
“It’s still very early in the season. The last two games didn’t go the way we wanted, so we have to learn from them.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Houston Dynamo – Ibrahim Aliyu
Aliyu is the only Houston player to score more than one goal in MLS this year, scoring three goals. However, he hasn’t scored a goal in the last three games and will therefore be desperate to end this little drought here.
St. Louis City – Joao Klauss
Klauss is St. Louis’ leading scorer this season. Only Celio Pompeu scored his three goals after both players scored in the last game against Sporting KC.
The Brazilian has taken 29 shots this season and created 12 chances for his teammates, bettered only by Pompeu (17).
Put in the work pic.twitter.com/Go33n59YLO
— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) April 30, 2024
MATCH PREDICTION – HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN
The Dynamo’s first win over St. Louis came in the second leg of the first round of this year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup, a 1-0 home win that sent Houston into the Round of 16.
St. Louis had previously gone undefeated (two wins, one draw) in the first three meetings between the teams, including winning both games at Missouri.
After winning its first three away games in club history last year, St. Louis managed just three wins (six draws, 13 losses) in 22 road trips. Houston, meanwhile, has won two of its last three games at Shell Energy Stadium and therefore enters Saturday’s game as favorites.
OPTA PROBABILITY OF WINNING
Houston Dynamo – 42%
St. Louis City – 29.7%
Draw – 28.3%