Olsen wants to continue in the ‘right direction’ on her road trip

Ben Olsen hopes the Houston Dynamo can take another step in the “right direction” when they visit Real Salt Lake for Thursday’s MLS encounter.

Dynamo recorded a narrow 1-0 win over Charlotte FC in their last outing, giving them the opportunity to find a third consecutive victory and continue their resurgent form.

El Naranja sits sixth in the Western Conference standings, one point out of the top four, but head coach Olsen still wants his Houston squad to improve.

“It’s a step in the right direction, we have a week to recover – a game in Salt Lake is never going to be easy,” Olsen said after Charlotte’s win, ahead of RSL.

“And then LAFC comes (to us), so it was important to get the last three points.

“Not conceding a goal is our biggest story right now.”

RSL will host America First Field, aiming to respond to a surprise 1-0 defeat to the LA Galaxy last time out.

Gabriel Pec’s second-half goal was enough for the Galaxy to secure a 1-0 victory in the encounter, beating Pablo Mastroeni’s men to third place in the Western Conference standings.

After suffering his first defeat in seven home outings, Mastroeni will be desperate to improve and close the gap on the top two duo – the Galaxy and Los Angeles FC.

Carlos Andres Gomez will miss the game through suspension after collecting five yellow cards this season, while Houston’s Franco Escobar will miss the game through suspension.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango

Cristian Arango has scored just one goal in five career MLS games against Houston (including the playoffs), averaging 0.30 goals per 90 minutes.

The only opponent he’s faced three or more times with a lower goal percentage is Vancouver (no goals in six games), can Arango end that streak against Houston here?

Houston Dynamo – Ibrahim Aliyu

Ibrahim Aliyu scored in the fifth minute against Charlotte on Saturday, and the Dynamo player will be hoping to make another strong run in Salt Lake.

It is the second-earliest goal ever scored by Houston in a 1–0 MLS win, with only Stuart Holden having scored earlier, scoring in the fourth minute of a 1–0 win over Chicago in 2009.

MATCH PREDICTION – REAL SALT LAKE WIN

Real Salt Lake saw their 15-match unbeaten streak end last time out but still appear to be the heavy favourites for this clash.

However, Charlotte’s loss left RSL with just two wins from its last six games, while Houston is on its own impressive unbeaten streak.

Dynamo are unbeaten in six outings, having only one longer unbeaten run in a single regular season in the past decade – a seven-game stretch from July to September last season.

Houston also did not lose any of its six meetings with RSL last season (W3 D3), although those three wins are the Dynamo’s only successes in this meeting since 2017.

RSL will be desperate to rediscover some former form and restore their imperious head-to-head record this time around.

OPTA WINNING PROBABILITY

Real Salt Lake wins – 51.2%

Zero – 24.8%

Houston Dynamo win – 24%