The Houston Dynamo will try to move above the playoff line when they visit Nashville SC on Saturday.
Only five points separate the eighth-place Colorado Rapids and 12th-place Real Salt Lake in the crowded Western Conference table. Houston (9-13-9, 36 points) is in 10th place, a point behind FC Dallas for the ninth and final postseason spot.
A six-match (0-3-3) winless drought in regular-season play almost torpedoed the Dynamo’s playoff hopes, but the club has since gone 2-1-1 in its last four matches. Houston’s last outing was one of its best overall efforts of the season, a 1-0 home win over the Portland Timbers last Saturday.
Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen views his club as “the underdogs” against Nashville, “and that’s just okay with us. It’s a game at a time right now… (we’ll) slug it out with them, try to get the points we need to stay in this conversation and move up.”
Nashville SC (15-11-5, 50 points) sit seventh in the East. The club can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Houston, or a draw and either a loss or draw by the New York Red Bulls against New York City FC on Saturday.
Securing a playoff berth has taken Nashville much longer than expected, due to the club’s 1-6-0 record over its last seven regular-season matches. Nashville SC are on a three-match losing streak, with consecutive losses coming after allowing a goal in second-half stoppage time.
“We know that we control our destiny still, and the objectives that we get for the season are still there,” coach B.J. Callaghan said following Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Orlando City. “So we’ll learn from this and rally because that’s what this team does. That’s what makes this team good.”
Jeisson Palacios, Walker Zimmerman, and Ahmed Qasem are all questionable to face the Dynamo. Palacios left the Orlando match early due to an apparent injury, while Zimmerman and Qasem didn’t play at all due to injuries.
Sam Surridge has 21 goals, putting the Nashville star three goals behind Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi in the MLS Golden Boot race.
Ezequiel Ponce leads the Dynamo with 10 goals this season.
This will be the first meeting between the two sides since Oct. 2, 2022.
–Field Level Media
