Minnesota United at Houston Dynamo
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Shell Oil Stadium, Houston
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: KSTP-AM 1500
Weather: 87 degrees, sunny, 16 mph north wind
Betting line: MNUFC plus-175; draw plus-230; Houston plus-150
Form: Minnesota (6-4-2, 22 points) has won two straight by a combined score of 7-1, including a 4-1 blowout of Inter Miami on Saturday. Houston (2-4-6, 10 points) has lost two of three, including a 3-1 home loss to Seattle last weekend.
Quote: “What top teams do is they put (the Miami win) aside and say we haven’t won more than three games in a row this year,” Wil Trapp said Tuesday. “This is our opportunity to do that against a team that is desperate to win.”
Recent matchups: Loons tied Dynamo 1-1 in Texas last July, giving up an 82-minute equalizer to Sebastian Ferreira. Houston won 2-1 on a game-winner from Sebastian Kowalczyk in the 72nd minute in April in St. Paul.
Absences: Anthony Markanich (ankle), Owen Gene (ankle) and Kipp Keller (hamstring) are out.
Context: Amid a stretch of nine games in 30 days, head coach Eric Ramsay is expected to rotate or change his starting XI this week. “Across the sort of 20, 21 players that we’ve got fighting for starting positions, we can be really competitive,” Ramsay said. “Having made my decision, I’m very happy with what we are going to go with.”
Check-in: Houston misses center back Micael, who was sold to Brazilian club Palmeiras reportedly for a club-record fee of $6 million in February. MLS denied Houston’s request to have Femi Awodesu’s red card appeal, and he will be suspended for Wednesday. Awodesu has played 1,027 minutes.
Prediction: Minnesota has scored at least three goals in its past two MLS matches, and Houston is 22nd in the league with 1.6 goals conceded per match. These trends continue. Loons win 2-0.
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