Toronto FC vs Houston Dynamo: With TFC Focused on CCL, Will The Kids Be Alright In Houston?
Houston game = Club Escobar prison kits.
Toronto FC vs Houston Dynamo ~ 3pm ET ~ BBVA Compass Stadium ~ TSN1/3/4/CTV
I know that everyone’s looking ahead to next Wednesday’s CCL Final away leg, but the MLS season waits for no one, not even the ‘best team in MLS’. So get set for another day out with the kids – whee! Really all they have to do is not get blown out (hey there Whitecaps), and see some consistent play and it’ll be a nominally successful game. It also helps that the Dynamo have not exactly been having a good season so far – so hey, anything is possible!
It’s impossible to predict Vanney’s (or Robin Fraser’s) lineup for this one – TFC have recently signed a number of Academy players to first team deals, there are players returning from injury that need minutes and bench players that are getting chances. So welcome aboard Aidan Daniels, Ryan Telfer, Julian Dunn and Alan Mariano Miño; welcome back Mitchel Taintor (heh Mitchel) and the other likely suspects joining (some of) them would be Clint Irwin, Nico Hasler, Jordan Hamilton and Ager Aketxe. I’d also hope to see Justin Morrow and Chris Mavinga – which of what I expected instead of seeing them in Tuesday night’s game – to get them minutes and get their fitness up.
Like the Rapids match last weekend this will likely be a disjointed effort as the majority of these players haven’t played together, or at all in many cases. And while the hole that Toronto are digging for themselves in MLS continues to deepen, it’s hard to blame Vanney and Co. for keeping their focus on CCL – but after Wednesday they’ve got work to do. I can’t remember what my podcast prediction was for this game, so I’ll go with 2-1 for the Houstons.
