Toronto FC vs Houston Dynamo: Can TFC Win The Julian B. Guzman Invitational?
Because this is always the right picture to use for Houston stories.
Toronto FC vs Houston Dynamo ~ 9pm ET ~ BBVA Compass Stadium ~ TSN4
Weather: Hot, humid, rainforest
A perfect home stand, players coming back from injury, a young bench helping to carry the team, Seba almost literally on fire and scoring pretty much at will – you know what this team needs? A three game road trip, and to the heat of Texas during one of the hottest summers in recent memory to kick things off – umm, yay? Of course Houston is the site of the still infamous incident four years ago that saw three TFC players get arrested and national team player Julian Guzman called to bail them out – such is the stuff of blogging and podcasting heaven. Sadly Club Escobar is closed so Seba’s wallet is safe during this trip (I’d assume it’d be Seba they’d call).
Houston are having, well they’re having a rough season and are currently mired in the bottom of the Western Conference. They’ve struggled to score and have been abysmal on the road – but have had solid home and are still a strong defensive side. The scoring part took a hit when they traded Giles Barnes to Vancouver and the defensive part will be more difficult tonight as David Horst is suspended for the game for an incident in their game against Montreal and they’re backline still reeling from injuries. All good news for Toronto as they look to continue their good form and potentially move to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Toronto FC are getting closer to full strength, although it is unlikely that they will see the return of any missing players in tonight’s game, that’s more likely in next week’s match against the Union. TFC will likely be missing Mark Bloom as his wife gave birth to their second child today – congrats to the Bloom fam, keep on growing!
Things To Note For Tonight:
- It’s really hot in Houston, expect a slog of a match
- Will Bruin will likely score, just for old times sake
- Get ready for water breaks
- Expect Nick Hagglund at right back
- Seba will score
- Altidore will still not start
- Ricketts will start
- Michael Bradley will start
Also of note for tonight: this is the annual VMP outing for Kristin & Mark’s birthdays – follow us on twitter to see if we can top last year’s ridiculousness that was highlighted by Tony drinking blue cheese dip. As for the game, not expecting a wild one mostly based on the weather conditions – the Dynamo are thin at the back and will likely play conservatively through the midfield to hold off TFC’s attack. Sticking with my podcast prediction of 1-1.
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