Pre-match Preview: Heading to the Lone Star State

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - St. Louis CITY SC is on its way to Texas for a matchup with Houston Dynamo FC this Saturday.

Last week, St. Louis CITY SC shared the spoils against LA Galaxy in a 2-2 draw at Dignity Health Sports Park. Sam Adeniran opened the scoring in the fourth minute before João Klauss doubled the away side’s lead heading into halftime. But, LA Galaxy grabbed two goals in the second half to snatch a point late in the game.

St. Louis remains No. 1 in the MLS Western Conference (48 points), holding a seven-point advantage over Seattle and an eight-point advantage on LAFC. CITY SC has finished 22 of their 28 matchdays in the top spot and have not dropped below third place in the standings this season. St. Louis’ 55 goals this season is the most in the league heading into Matchday 32.

A major storyline of that night: the return of João Klauss. In his first start since his injury on April 8, Klauss etched his name on the scoresheet to record his sixth goal of the season. The forward now has 10 goal contributions in 10 starts this season.

CITY SC are 4-4-2 in road matches against Western Conference teams. Against Houston, St. Louis will look to close the gap on LAFC for the most away wins by an expansion team. CITY SC’s five away wins are two shy of LAFC’s record of seven road wins. When the two sides met earlier in the year, CITY SC stormed to a 3-0 win at a sold--out CITYPARK. Since the first meeting, Houston has recorded a 6-3-3 record in MLS play.

Houston sits in 5th place in the Western Conference (39 points), nine points behind CITY SC. The Dynamo enter this match on a five-game MLS unbeaten streak (3-0-2), after also tying their last match (0-0) with LA Galaxy. This could mean a stronger showing from Houston in round two of this Western Conference duel.

Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 16, at Shell Energy Stadium.