Real Salt Lake vs Houston Dynamo Prediction: What other tricks does Salt Lake have?

Real Salt Lake are and Austin FC are back in action for the second leg of the playoffs. Houston won the first leg 2-1 and they need to keep the advantage in order to progress to the next round. And for Real Salt Lake, they need to score at least 2 goals to guarantee their qualification to the next round of the playoffs. The chances of Salt Lake turning this around is slim, but no one can write-off this team in such a competitive game.

Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake’s woes against Houston Dynamo continued in their first meeting in the playoffs, as they lost the game 2-1. That was their 3rd defeat to Houston Dynamo this year, as they lost their last 2 meetings against them in the MLS and Leagues Cup last season.

Real Salt Lake will be hoping that Deigo Luna’s goal in the first leg is enough confidence for them to turn this around. They were below par in the game, getting only 29% possession of the ball. They also registered only 2 shots on target and 1 corner kick throughout the whole game. Clearly, Real Salt Lake needs a new game plan if they must get the win in this return leg against Houston.

The last time these two teams faced each other at the Rio Tinto Stadium, Real Salt Lake lost by 3 goals to nil. So, we can expect a more confident approach from the visitors in this game.

Houston Dynamo

Houston got the needed win in the first leg and now they have to hang onto the advantage in the return leg to qualify for the next round. They were clearly the better team in the 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake according to the match statistics. Hector Herrera and Amine Bassi were both on target in both halves to give Houston the win in that match. They had 71% possession of the ball, while also registering 5 shots on target and 9 corner kicks.

Houston Dynamo will be hoping for more control in this return leg match and hopefully a win once again at the Rio Tinto Stadium. They remain unbeaten against Real Salt Lake in their last 4 meetings. They won their last 3 matches against Salt Lake and played a draw in the 4th match. And in their last game against Real Salt Lake at the Rio Tinto Stadium, they won by 3 goals to nil. Surely, there’s no reason why Dynamo can’t come off this game with another win.

Head to Head

Real Salt Lake and Houston Dynamo are close in the head-to-head battle as the statistics shows. They played 20 matches against each other, Houston Dynamo won 7 matches and Real Salt Lake won 6 matches and 6 matches ended in a draw.

Analysis and Predictions

Houston Dynamo progressing to the next round looks more likely than a Real Salt Lake turn around. Dynamo have shown class in their last 3 meetings against Real Salt Lake and they completely outplayed them in the first leg. If they put in such a performance, they are capable of running away with another win in this match.

Houston’s unbeaten streak is now at 6 games and in their last 4, they have failed to keep a clean sheet. They scored first in 5 out of their last 6 matches and 6 out of 8 matches ended with more than 2.5 goals. Salt Lake on the other hand, have seen both teams score in 6 of their last 8 games and those games ended with more than 2.5 goals. We can expect a goal from both sides in this clash.

• More than 2.5 goals at 1.6 Odds
• Draw FT at 3.55 Odds
• Amine Bassi to Score Anytime at 2.60 Odds