Thursday Night Soccer - Houston vs. Chicago

Houston Dynamo (9-5-2) vs. Chicago Fire (4-7-4)
9pm ET/6pm PT
TV: Espn2
Can the Dynamo really pull off a result in their fourth game in a week? Will the Fire figure out how to make things difficult in front of Houston's goal? The last time these two teams meet in late April, Houston was just starting their ugly slide while Chicago was enjoying a fantastic opening month. Things are a bit different now.

Houston's defense is stepping it up big with Pat Onstad keeping everything safe in front of the net (or Zach Wells when Onstad is out), but their offense is a little soft. One of the key reasons for this is the drop in play by DeWayne De Rosario. The good news for the Dynamo is they have found some other talent to counterweight DeRo, so even when he is below average, they still have chances to win.

Meanwhile the Fire have some decent defense of their own but their attack has only produced 8 goals in 12 matches. If you average less then a goal a game, it is damn hard to win. Add this to Houston's 515-minute streak without allowing a goal and you can see a big wall facing Chicago tonight. Calen Carr has some great speed but his ball control allows for easy pickings while Chad Barrett has a good future ahead of him but doesn't yet threaten. Justin Mapp might be able to add some spice to things and Thiago is always ready for some sort of hard shot, but I just don't know where they will find the goals.

The best chance Chicago will have of getting a result tonight might just come down to a tired mistake by Houston unless new coach Juan Carlos Osorio can make some magic happen.
Predictions: Me HD 3-0 CF, Wife HD 2-1 CF

By the way, if Houston keeps a clean sheet for the first seven minutes, they will surprise LA to claim the second spot on the 'longest shutout streak in MLS history' list. To take the top spot, they will need a shutout tonight and at least 77 shutout minutes on Sunday against Toronto.