Houston Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen described his team as ‘vulnerable’ after they had lost all three their competitions.
A 2-1 defeat against Pachuca saw them become the only MLS side in the tournament not to earn a single point, while they are now profitless in their last six games in all games.
Despite their recent struggles, Houston is 11th in the Western Conference and only three points of the play-off places with a competition in hand. They are confronted with in-shape Austin FC on the road in their next game.
Olsen said his dynamo team hurts after their losses, but is determined to reach the late season.
“A bit of the same story with us at the moment. Some good versions, some not so good,” said Olsen after the defeat of Pachuca.
“We let ourselves be in the goals. Again, bad, a little naive in the moments. We were not murderers for the goal. We have two really good escapes in the first half; we have to clean it up and put it in the net.
“We are a bit of a fragile group at the moment. It was a group of players who don’t play much together. I mix things, so I blame it because they are not always set up to succeed if you try to win a game, but you also have an eye on the future. [You look] At the last 10 games, that’s where we are now.
“The message [to the team] Was this tournament put to bed. We learned a bit about ourselves and we saw some things we wanted to see. We have not received the results we wanted, but I think we are better to go through this.
“Now it’s about the last 10 games and see what we can do to get in the late season. That has been our goal.”
We are walking back against the Verde this weekend pic.twitter.com/klvWH36NMZ
– Houston Dynamo FC (@hourstondnamo) August 7, 2025
Players to watch
Austin FC – Myrto Uzuni
Myrto Uzuni has been performed for Austin in the absence of top scorer Brandon Vazquez.
The attacker scored three goals and offered one assist in his last four games in all competitions.
Houston Dynamo – Ezequiz Ponce
Ezequiel Ponce has been the most productive player for Houston, with seven times, including three match opening goals.
He scored in each of the last two victories of the Dynamo, including a brace against conference leaders San Diego FC.
Match forecast – Austin FC Win
Austin has only lost two of their last 13 games in all competitions (W5 D6), including winning the last two. Austin has avoided the defeat in all seven home games in that period (W3 D4), including a US Open Cup victory on the Dynamo in May.
Houston, however, has each won Road Texas Derbies of their last two regular season, including a 1-0 victory at Austin in their last competition visit at Q2 Stadium in September 2024. The Dynamo had been Winloos in 19 consecutive in-state regular season races that go back to 2013.
Hosts Austin have four wins, five draws and two losses this season in matches of 11 ml in home. They have an MLS house with five games, unbeaten streak from May 15 against Atlanta United.
In their last six league games, Austin won four, signed one and lost one. Houston has meanwhile won two, one signed and lost three in their last six.
Opta wins probability
Austin FC – 46.2%
Drawing – 26.6%
Houston Dynamo – 27.2%
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