Houston Dynamo vs Sporting Kansas City Prediction & Betting Tips - Major League Soccer

Prediction published on 24/02/2024, 11:54  by Joseph King in Major League Soccer Predictions

Opening weekend of the 2024 MLS season continues with the Houston Dynamo hosting Sporting Kansas City at the Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday evening. 2023 was a roaring success for the Dynamo as they made it all the way to the Western Conference finals after claiming the fourth seed in the regular season. In addition, they would be crowned champions of the US Open Cup, defeating Inter Miami by a score of 2-1. It represented a massive improvement for a team that finished 13th in the West in 2022 and was only the second time that Houston had made the MLS Cup Playoffs in the last 10 years. The Dynamo did most of their damage in the previous campaign on home soil with head coach Ben Olsen guiding his team to a stellar 13-5-2 record at Shell Energy Stadium in the regular season and playoffs combined.

Sporting KC certainly made things hard on themselves in 2023 after managing just three points after the first 10 games of the season. Nonetheless, a strong run down the stretch saw Peter Vermes’ team qualify for the playoffs in the eighth-seed after beating out the ninth-place Quakes in the Wild Card. It was the 11th time that Sporting had made the postseason in the last 13 seasons and they were able to pull off an upset victory over first-place finishing St. Louis City in the first round. They would ultimately be sent home by their opponents today in the West semi-finals, adding an extra layer of revenge for them in this season opener. Kansas City ended their preseason preparations on a positive note after recording back-to-back wins: a 5-0 beatdown of Miami FC (not to be confused with Inter Miami), followed up with a 3-1 away win over Atlanta United.