Sunday night’s visit to Southern California will be a big opportunity for the Houston Dynamo to move into the top half of the Western Conference standings.

In order to do so, the Dynamo will have to take at least a point from the Los Angeles Galaxy on the road when the teams meet for the first time this season.

Houston is just 1-3-0 away this season, while LA is 3-2-0 at home, having dropped its most recent game there 3-1 to FC Dallas on May 14.

The Galaxy (6-4-2, 20 points) sit in fourth place in the West, but the club is 1-2-1 over its last four games and has scored only three goals in those four games.

The Galaxy grabbed a late lead at Minnesota United on Wednesday but could not hold on in a 1-1 tie. Sacha Kljestan scored LA’s lone goal.

“Disappointed that we didn’t win. I don’t really care about the goal because we need to close it out,” Kljestan said.

Javier “Chicharito’ Hernandez leads the Galaxy with five goals on 15 shots on target this season but has gone six straight games without scoring. Goalkeeper Jonathan Bond is allowing less than a goal per game and has five shutouts.

Houston (4-5-3, 15 points) is in eighth place in the West but won’t feel like it is looking up at the Galaxy. The two sides are 12-12-10 against each other all time.

The Dynamo, who have lost three of their last four games, are led by forward Darwin Quintero’s five goals. Houston goalkeeper Steve Clark, who helped lead the Portland Timbers to the MLS Cup Final last season, has three shutouts.

Houston has had a problem keeping 11 players on the field. The Dynamo have lost a player to red cards three times this season, including each of the last two games. It happened just once in 2021.

–Field Level Media