Houston Dynamo v St. Louis City SC: Olsen insists defensive fragility costing hosts

Houston Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen insisted his side must be stronger mentally after they concede a goal.

Houston lost 3-1 to Minnesota United in their last match, conceding all three goals in a 10-minute spell during the second half.

Defender Erik Sviatchenko made his return to the starting line-up after missing eight games through injury, while Daniel Steres, who made 23 MLS appearances last season, has also been sidelined since May 11.

Olsen wants his team to respond better after conceding a goal, but stated that defensive injuries have not helped the matter.

"When we give one [goal] up, the second one comes way too quick," said Olsen. "This compounding concession of goals is unacceptable. We need to make sure we are stronger mentally. It is a fragility that is not going to get us anywhere.

"Unfortunately, we have minute limits [on Sviatchenko], and it is not a lot of fun. I can’t tell you how many times we have subbed centre-backs this year, and it is the last place you want to make subs on the field.

"That has been a really frustrating process this year, not having two centre-backs consistently healthy and in good form, and it is an issue.

"We are going to get past that. This was an important step for Erik. I thought he looked good. You could tell his leadership and physicality is what we need. We need our best centre-back out there constantly."

Houston have lost their last three matches now, all by a 3-1 scoreline, leaving them 11th in the Western Conference, but their next opponents, St. Louis City SC, are in a rut of their own.

St. Louis have won just once in their last 15 matches, leaving them 14th in the West.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Houston Dynamo – Felipe Andrade

Felipe Andrade came off the bench to score his third goal of the season in the 3-1 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday.

Since the beginning of May, Andrade is the only Dynamo player with three or more goals in MLS.

St Louis City – Joao Klauss

Joao Klauss has been the leading attacking threat for St. Louis, netting on six occasions, including three match-opening goals.

Klauss has scored four goals over his last two MLS matches with a hat-trick against the LA Galaxy and a goal against Orlando City. It is his sixth time scoring in consecutive MLS matches, but he has never scored in three straight league games.

MATCH PREDICTION – HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN

The Dynamo's last two home matches have both been 3-1 losses to Sporting Kansas City and CF Montreal. The only other time in team history that Houston conceded at least three goals in consecutive home MLS matches was April-May 2015.

St. Louis are on a five-game losing streak on the road in all competitions with an active road winless streak of eight straight (D1 L7). Since the beginning of last season, St. Louis have two wins in 28 road matches across all competitions (D10 L16).

In their last six league matches, Houston have won two, drawn one and lost three. St. Louis, meanwhile, have won one, drawn one and lost four in their last six.

However, St. Louis are unbeaten in their four meetings with Houston (W2 D2). The two matches in Houston were both draws (0-0, 1-1), while both games in St. Louis were 3-0 wins.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Houston Dynamo – 55.8%

Draw – 23.7%

St Louis City – 22.5%