Houston looks for first win vs. first place Rapids

Soccer Betting Lines

05/09/2008 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The back-to-back defending Major League Soccer Cup champion Houston Dynamo will be gunning for their first win of the 2008 season on Saturday night when they host the Colorado Rapids.

The struggling Dynamo are currently tied with the expansion San Jose Earthquakes for last place in the entire league, with just four points after six contests while Colorado is tied atop the Western table with nine points.

"As far as four points out of six games, four ties, and you know if you look at it, you play those games a little different," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "You may come out with more points, so just the bounces going our way, the goalkeeper making some good saves, good defending, some calls that the referees that some put in their pocket that benefit you, and we're just not getting the right bounce. But the effort and the attitude of the guys are spot on and it's never in question. And that message is always passed on from the coaching staff."

The Dynamo are coming off a scoreless draw with Chivas USA in their last league fixture, and while the team's early season defensive woes seem to have been corrected, their offense is second-to-last in the league.

"Frustrating night, a lot of chances, need a goal to break us out of our slump; obviously, they came here for a reason, tie the game, get a point," Kinnear said after the draw with Chivas USA.

"We're getting a half inch away from scoring, but we are a strong team mentally and physically," Houston midfielder Corey Ashe said.

The Rapids, on the other hand, are coming off a win over D.C. United in which former D.C. midfielder Christian Gomez controlled the flow of the game from his central role on the Rapids' squad while pitching in two assists in a 2-0 win.

"We brought (Christian Gomez) here with the expectations that he would be the player that we saw out there today," Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo said after the win. "When he plays with two strikers he can move around the field. He will start the play and that is what he were looking for."

The Rapids switched to a two forward formation after using a lone forward with Gomez as an underneath forward for the first five games of the season. The strategy seemed to work as the win snapped a two game losing streak and generated more offense for the Rocky Mountain club. Omar Cummings and Tom McManus manned the forward positions with Gomez filling a more familiar attacking midfield role.

"If you look at today, everybody works hard," Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul said after the win. "If you play 4-5-1, the striker cannot do everything. He cannot run, run, run. The next thing you know, he's going to stop working. But when you got two guys, one runs, one rests, and we have the midfield, like (Gomez), free to do passes and all those things. So this is a challenge for us."

"Two forwards are much more dangerous than one forward," Rapids forward Herculez Gomez said. "It maximizes Christian's strengths. He'll be the first one to tell you he doesn't feel comfortable playing up front. With two forwards there was more movement. It made things easier on everybody, defenders and midfielders, created more space, more opportunities. Especially in our pitch, it got us pressuring in the right places."

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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