COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — The Colorado Rapids (8-10-7, 31 pts) will look to extend a four-game unbeaten run at home as they return to DICK’S Sporting Goods Park to take on Hector Herrera’s Houston Dynamo FC (7-14-4, 25 pts) on Saturday, August 20 (7 p.m. MT; Altitude Sports, Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM).
Saturday’s match will mark the second and final meeting between Colorado and Houston in the regular season. After splitting points in a 1-1 draw against the Dynamo in their first encounter in March, the Rapids will look to extend a run of form at home that has seen them take eight points from their previous four games, as well as continue a decade-plus dominance over their Texan rivals.
Colorado has lost only three of its last 25 regular-season matches against Houston dating back to August 2009 (13-3-9). At home, the Rapids have just one loss from their past 12 meetings with Houston at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park, a 4-1 defeat dating back to March 2019 (7-1-4); the Dynamo have only scored five goals across their other 11 visits to Colorado. Rapids head coach Robin Fraser is undefeated against the Dynamo since taking charge of the team on August 25, 2019, posting a 4-0-2 record.
Rapids forward Diego Rubio scored his 12th goal of the season in his side’s last home match, reaching a new single-season career high that also tied him with Chris Henderson for the fifth-most goals scored all-time in club history (31). Prior to Wednesday’s midweek match against the Whitecaps, Rubio recorded eight consecutive matches with a goal or an assist this season (five goals, five assists), the longest such run in Rapids history. Rubio leads the team with 12 goals and six assists in 2022, surpassing his previous career high of 11 goals and five assists in 2019. The Rapids have scored in their last nine matches, recording 19 goals in that span, which marks their longest scoring streak of the season.
Houston visits the Rapids following a 3-2 defeat to CF Montréal on Saturday, marking the Dynamo’s fourth consecutive loss and longest losing streak of the season. The match was also the eighth time in the last nine games that Houston has allowed multiple goals, conceding 23 goals in that span. Paraguayan international forward Sebastián Ferreira leads Houston’s attack with eight goals in his 2022 account. Swedish defender Adam Lundqvist has delivered a team-leading five assists for the Dynamo this season, while goalkeeper Steve Clark has recorded five clean sheets, though the most recent clean sheet on the road came on May 22, 2022, against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Several members on Houston’s bench will be familiar to longtime Rapids fans. Dynamo assistant coach Chris Martinez was a member of the Rapids from 1997-2001; Dynamo goalkeeping coach Zach Thornton made one appearance for the Rapids during his only season with the club in 2007; Dynamo director of performance Paul Caffrey was an assistant/fitness coach for the Rapids from 2012-2014; and Dynamo midfielder Griffin Dorsey played in the Premier Development League (PDL) for the Colorado Rapids U-23 from 2017-2018, scoring nine goals over 17 appearances. On the Rapids side, midfielder Collen Warner delivered an assist and made 24 appearances for the Dynamo during his single season with the club in 2016.
