“Houston is a cruel, crazy town… on a filthy river in East Texas with no zoning laws and a culture of sex, money, and violence.”
Larry McMurtry
3rd in the West FC Dallas (50 points, 14-6-9) travels to the South Texas swamps to face 5th in the West Houston Dynamo (46 points, 13-9-7) in a big six-point game at 7:30 p.m. CT from Shell Energy Stadium.
Welcome to the Texas Derby 2026 Game 2. FC Dallas holds a 3-point lead, having won last time out by a 4-3 scoreline in Frisco back in March.
Houston is a solid 8-3-3 at home, but FC Dallas is an impressive 7-5-3 away. Dallas has also won five of its last seven matches.
A win in this game clinches Houston a playoff spot, but they can get in even with a loss if results go their way.
Weather
Temps in the mid-60s at kickoff with a relatively pleasant – for Houston – 40% humidity. Winds around 10 mph from the Northeast.
Broadcast Info
TV: Apple TV
– Apple TV English: Christian Miles, Kacey White
– Apple TV Spanish: Jorge Perez-Navarro, Marcelo Balboa
– Dallas Audio: Ryan Figert, Steve Davis, and Sam Hale
MLS Injury/Player Availability Report
FC Dallas
Logan Farrington – Lower Body (Out)
Suspended after one yellow: Nolan Norris, Daniel, Patrickson Delgado
2 yellows suspended: Sam Sarver, Shaq Moore, Osaze Urhoghide
Houston Dynamo FC
Felipe Andrade – Lower Body (Out)
Jimmy Maurer – Back (Out)
Suspended after one yellow: Agustin Resch
FC Dallas Lineup Prediction
Coach Eric Quill can be a little reactionary on the road, so I tried to think of what he might do to defend against Houston. Guilherme is the big threat, so I put Shaq Moore on that side and put Sebastian Ibeagha on the left.
For a minute, I overthought it and had Nolan Norris back in at left center back with Ran Binyamin on that wide side and Herman Johnsson on the right. But that overcomplicates things, and Quill loves him some Bernie Kamungo.
With Logan Farrington out, I went back with Santi Moreno at the 2nd 10. I also rotated Christian Cappis back in. I also considered high-press Kaick, that would not surprise me at all.
Bench Prediction
Jonathan Sirois
Caleb Swann
Herman Johansson
Patrickson Delgado
Sam Sarver
Ramiro
Lalas Abubakar
Daniel Job
Nolan Norris
MLS Kit Assignments
Officials
Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistant Referees: Chris Wattam, Ben Pilgrim
4th Official: Cristian Campo Hernandez
VAR: Michael Radchuk
Assistant VAR: Zeno Cho
More Game Info
- FCD vs. HOU all-time: 17-14-20 (80 goals scored, 71 goals conceded)
- FCD vs. HOU away: 5-10-11 (36 goals scored, 41 goals conceded)
Houston has won only three of their last 13 home meetings with Dallas, drawing eight (3-2-8)
Dynamo hasn’t kept a clean sheet in six matches, conceding two in each of the last three.
Dallas has three clean sheets in their last four matches after just four in their first 25 this season.
Los Toros are 9-1-1 when leading at halftime and 13-2-3 when scoring first. But they are also 1-5-2 when conceding first.
Dallas is third in MLS in aerial challenges won with 380.
Guilherme leads Houston with 16 goals and 9 assists this season.
FCD is eighth in MLS in most goals scored with 53 but 20th (!) in MLS in xG with 45.99 thanks to being third in shot efficiency with 7.01.
Houston goalkeeper Jonathan Bond currently ranks among the league’s top five in clean sheets this season with
ten.
Osaze Urhoghide ranks fourth in MLS in aerial challenges with 71 and ranks 27th in clearances with 33.
Petar Musa is second in MLS in goals scored with 19 and sixth in MLS in xG with 15.68.
Joaquin Valiente is tied for the MLS lead with 13 assists. He’s also eighth in MLS in High Speed Runs with Ball in Play with 1,101. He’s the first player in FC Dallas’ history to record 10+ assists in a single season since 2016.
There are a fair number of player connections between these two clubs: Jimmy Maurer, Sam Junqua, Fafa Picault, Maynor Figueroa, Chris Seitz, Je-Vaughn Watson, Brad Davis, and Arturo Alverez.
FC Dallas All-Time Goals Record
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Jason Kreis | 91 |
| Jesus Ferreira | 53 |
| Petar Musa | 53 |
| Kenny Cooper | 46 |
| Blas Perez | 36 |
FC Dallas Single-Season Goals Record
A new record holder!!!
| Player | Goals | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Petar Musa | 19 | 2026 |
| Jason Kreis | 18 | 1999 |
| Kenny Cooper | 18 | 2008 |
| Jesus Ferreira | 18 | 2022 |
| Petar Musa | 18 | 2025 |
| Jeff Cunningham | 17 | 2009 |
| Petar Musa | 16 | 2024 |
FC Dallas Single-Season Assists Record
| Player | Assists | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Kreis | 15 | 1999 |
| Michael Barrios | 15 | 2019 |
| Michael Barrios | 14 | 2017 |
| Jason Kreis | 13 | 2000 |
| David Ferreira | 13 | 2010 |
| Mauro Diaz | 13 | 2016 |
| Joaquín Valiente | 13 | 2026 |
