Houston Dynamo vs Real Salt Lake Prediction: Houston will come out on top

This Playoff fixture features Houston Dynamo up against Real Salt Lake. Both sides made it to the playoffs after a tough season. Houston Dynamo ended their season in 9th place with 51 points, while Real Salt Lake were 2 places behind them with 50 points. Both sides met 3 times last season and Houston Dynamo won 2 of those matches and the other ended in a draw. Will they be able to continue their dominance against Real Salt Lake?

Houston Dynamo

It's their first match of the Playoff series and Houston Dynamo will be hoping to get on a bright start against Real Salt Lake. At the end of the season, they had 51 points from 14 wins, 9 draws and 11 defeats in 34 matches. They also scored 51 goals and conceded 39. They scored an average of 1.5 goals per game and they had a 13% conversion rate. And defensively, they conceded an average of 1.1 goals and kept 13 clean sheets last season.

Amine Bassi was top scorer for Houston Dynamo with 10 goals, while Hector Herrera ended the season with 11 assists.

Houston Dynamo are unbeaten in their last 5 matches in all competitions, winning 3 and drawing 2 games.

Streaks

• No losses in 5 matches.
• Without a clean sheet in 3 matches.
• More than 2.5 goals in 5/7 matches.
• Both teams scored in 7/8 matches.
• First to score in 4/5 matches.
• First half winner in 4/5 matches.
• More than 4.5 cards in 9/10 matches.
• Less than 10.5 corners in 7/9 matches.

Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake recorded a hard fought victory against Colorado Rapids on the final day of the season to seal their playoff spot. Salt Lake ended the season in 11th place with 50 points from 14 wins, 8 draws and 12 defeats in 34 matches played. They scored 48 goals and conceded 50. They also scored an average of 1.4 goals per game and had a conversion rate of 10%. Defensively, they also conceded an average of 1.5 goals per game and kept 9 clean sheets.

Jefferson Savarino scored 7 goals for Real Salt Lake last season, while Andre Gomez registered 5 assists.

In their last 5 matches, they had 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat.

Streaks

• More than 2.5 goals in 5/7 matches.
• Both teams scored in 5/7 matches.
• More than 10.5 corners in 6/8 matches.

Head to Head

According to the head-to-head, both sides played 20 times against each other in the past. Real Salt Lake won 7 of those matches, while Houston Dynamo won 6 and 6 matches ended in a draw.

Streaks

• Houston Dynamo have not lost the last 3 meetings.
• Less than 4.5 cards in 8/10 matches.

Analysis and Predictions

I expect Houston Dynamo to get a win against Real Salt Lake here with the home advantage playing a big role in that outcome. Houston Dynamo are currently unbeaten in their last 6 matches on home soil and they have recorded some big wins like the 5-1 win over Colorado Rapids and the 5-0 win over Portland Timbers. Salt Lake are also unbeaten in their last 3 away games but in their last 5 away games, they lost 2. Houston Dynamo scored 3 goals in their last 2 meetings against Real Salt Lake and I reckon a similar outcome here.

• Home Win FT at 1.76 Odds
• Home Win or Draw and Over 2.5 Goals at 2.04 Odds
• More than 2.5 Goals at 1.60 Odds