Saturday, April 5 | 5:30 p.m. PT
🏟: Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, TX
đź“»: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, and KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera
After handing Supporters’ Shield leaders Inter Miami its first defeat of 2025 in their Wednesday night Concacaf Champions Cup matchup, LAFC returns its focus to the MLS regular season—and returns to the road—as the team faces Houston Dynamo FC at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night.
LAFC currently sits in 8th place in the Western Conference with a record of 3W-3L-0D (9pts) in MLS play, while Houston finds itself in 14th place in the 15-team conference with an 0-4-2 (2pts) league mark. LAFC has scored seven goals in MLS play and conceded seven. Houston has scored four goals and conceded 11.
For LAFC, this weekend’s trip to Texas falls between its two most important matches of 2025 so far — its two-leg Quarterfinal clash with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC). The Black & Gold earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over the previously unbeaten Herons in the first leg of the total-goal series on Wednesday night, thanks to a 57th-minute strike from Nathan Ordaz and disciplined defending that held Miami to just three shots on goal—all handled comfortably by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who pitched his sixth clean sheet of ’25 across all competitions.
The deciding second leg of the Quarterfinal will be played at Chase Stadium in South Florida on Wednesday, April 9. LAFC will travel straight from Houston for that match without returning home to LA. This two-game road trip marks the end of a challenging eight-game stretch for LAFC in which six of those contests will have been played away from home.
For LAFC to fulfill its Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup aspirations, this fixture in Houston represents the kind of game – against an opponent that hasn’t found its groove yet in 2025 – from which LAFC expects to produce three points in order to continue climbing the table.
THANKS H-TOWN
Last summer, LAFC and Houston squared off twice in eight days in MLS play because their early-season meeting was postponed due to Hurricane Beryl. LAFC lost 2-0 in LA in late August, then the teams played to a scoreless draw in Houston on Sept. 7.
Then came Decision Day 2024, when LAFC needed help from the Dynamo in order to finish first in the Western Conference. Moments after beating San Jose to move into a first-place tie with the Galaxy, LAFC’s players and fans stuck around BMO Stadium and watched in real-time as a last-second, match-winning header by Houston defender (and LA native) Daniel Steres defeated the Galaxy and gave the Black & Gold the exact goal differential it needed to seal the West’s number-one seed for the third time in LAFC’s seven-year existence.
In 50 total games in 2024, LAFC was held scoreless just six times. Houston was responsible for two of those shutouts. Since then, however, the Dynamo have changed a bit.
DIFFERENT DYNAMO
Veteran goalkeeper Steve Clark did not return to Houston this season. Standout centerback Micael departed to Brazil’s first division for a club-record transfer fee. Midfield stars Hector Herrera and Coco Carrasquilla now play in Liga MX.
To fill its midfield gaps, Houston acquired decorated MLS veteran Nico Lodeiro from Orlando and gifted 21-year-old Jack McGlynn from Philadelphia over the winter. Last week the club signed attacking midfielder Ondřej Lingr from SK Slavia Prague of Czechia. The 26-year-old has made 23 senior appearances for the Czech national team as a playmaking number 10.
Houston’s roster also includes two players who helped LAFC win MLS Cup in 2022: fullback Franco Escobar and midfielder Erik Dueñas. The 20-year-old Dueñas, an LA native and a product of the LAFC Academy’s original class back in 2016, joined Houston over the winter.
Last week Escobar scored the Dynamo’s only goal in its 3-1 loss in Portland – a perfectly finished free kick that was sent into the danger area by McGlynn. Goalkeeper Blake Gillingham made his first career MLS start against the Timbers, becoming the second-youngest goalkeeper (22) to ever start for Houston.
DENIS DETONATES?
LAFC forward Denis Bouanga has scored three goals in Concacaf Champions Cup play this season, and two in World Cup qualifying for his home country, Gabon, but has yet to find the net in the MLS regular season. Bouanga, who has scored more MLS goals over the last two seasons than any other player, has never scored against Houston. He has found the net against every other Western Conference club except Colorado and San Diego.
After falling to the latter club last weekend in their first ever meeting, Bouanga said that the Miami win marked a turn. “After losing against San Diego, like we needed like that boost of confidence of winning here,” Bouanga said in French, “and hopefully we will have two more wins in the next week. That will boost the group for sure.”
THE SERIES
LAFC has a 6W-4L-6D record against the Dynamo, all-time. Before last season their most recent encounter was the 2023 Western Conference Final in which LAFC triumphed 2-0 and advanced to its second straight MLS Cup Final appearance.
ODDS & ENDS
LAFC’s two most recent acquisitions, defender Artem Smoliakov and winger Cengiz Ünder, each scored his first MLS goal last weekend in San Diego.
If defender Ryan Hollingshead plays in Houston on Saturday he will become the 9th player in LAFC history to appear in 100 regular-season games in black and gold. Carlos Vela’s 152 appearances rank first on that list.
THE BLACK & GOLD CAN WIN IF
It defends set pieces attentively. The Black & Gold conceded two goals to San Diego on restarts in its own area. Against Miami the team dodged two nail-biting free kicks taken by Messi. Houston has been dangerous here, scoring two of its four goals this season on free kicks, both on pinpoint service from McGlynn. LAFC’s rotated roster will need to be on its toes when the ball is still.
THE DYNAMO CAN WIN IF
The rain that’s expected to hit south Texas on Saturday plays a role. The Dynamo would love to water the track at Shell Energy Stadium and slow down the get-it-and-go counter attacks that LAFC forwards Bouanga, Cengiz Ăśnder, David MartĂnez and Nathan Ordaz are known for finishing.
The 2025 LAFC Secondary Kit
LAFC’s 2025 Secondary Kit is regal, refined, and designed to be worn by players and supporters who expect success.
