Real Salt Lake City coach Pablo Mastroeni is eager to see how his new players adjust to their next MLS matchup: the Houston Dynamo.
RSL brought in five new faces in the transfer window, some of whom were introduced during the 2-0 win over New England Revolution last time out.
They currently sit third in the Western Conference, five points behind leaders LA Galaxy, with the teams further down the table starting to close in.
And with just seven games left of the regular season, Mastroeni is eager to integrate the new players as quickly as possible.
“There are a lot of kinks to work through, but it allows us to collaborate as a team and quickly and on the fly figure out how these new players can apply their skills to improve our team,” he told KSL Sports Zone.
“It completely changes the dynamic of everything up to this point, but if we play with the right mentality, aggressive on both ends of the pitch, then the acclimatization of the new players will be much easier as the players will show what our standards are.”
Meanwhile, Houston has lost just two of its last 13 MLS games and sits seventh in the standings.
They also have a good record against RSL, losing just once in nine meetings, and Ben Olsen is excited to face them once again.
“They’re fun games,” Olsen said. “We keep looking at the schedule and Salt Lake keeps popping up.
“They are a very good team, although a little different. We will have to give our all and play defense like we did against LAFC, but a little sharper in and around the goal.”
Another face to face with Dinamo #HOUvRSL | @AFCU
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) September 13, 2024
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Dynamo in Houston – Steve Clark
Houston Dynamo have played back-to-back MLS games against Los Angeles FC, winning one and drawing the other without conceding a goal.
It is the first time Dynamo have kept back-to-back clean sheets since March this year, when they secured back-to-back 1-0 wins against the Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids.
The real salt lake – Braian Ojeda
Braian Ojeda picked up his second assist of the MLS season last weekend in Real Salt Lake’s 2-0 win over New England Revolution.
However, he also had the most touches (88), made the most passes (67) and made the most accurate passes of all his teammates.
MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN
This will be the ninth meeting between the Dynamo and Real Salt Lake since the start of the 2023 season. Houston has won four of the nine meetings (D3 L1), with Real Salt Lake’s only win coming in the first meeting of this year’s regular season, a 3-2 home win on July 3.
However, Houston have won just three of their last 13 home games in all competitions (D7 L3) since late March. One of those three wins was a 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake in the Leagues Cup on August 5.
Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake have won just one of their last 10 away games in all competitions (D5 L4) dating back to the start of May, including two consecutive away defeats for the first time in 2024, the second of which was a 3-0 reverse at Houston in the League Cup.
OPTA WINNING PROBABILITY
Houston Dynamo – 50,2%
Draw – 25.2%
Royal Salt Lake – 24.6%