MLS: Houston Dynamo pedigree to be tested

Six wins from their first eight matches have given the Houston Dynamo a fantastic start to a what looks like a promising season. But their pedigree will be tested in a tough upcoming slate of opponents.

The start of the 2019 Major League Soccer has been terrific for the Houston Dynamo. They have quietly gone under the radar has one of the league’s most impressive clubs thus far.

With six wins coming from their first eight matches, they sit in third place in the Western Conference table and have three games in hand over leaders Los Angeles FC, which will vault them top of the standings should they win just two of them.

After crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions League in the quarterfinals, they have regrouped to sting together a start that can carry them to a playoff spot at the end of the regular season campaign.

However, there remains a stern test on the horizon for the Dynamo in the coming weeks as they have yet to reach the 10-match mark of the season: ahead awaits the Seattle Sounders, D.C. United, and Minnesota United. All three of these matches will be massive tests and will give a better impression of what the Dynamo are capable of this year.

A quick glance at the clubs the Dynamo have already faced shows a lack of quality in their early-season schedule. All of the beaten teams would not be considered members of the MLS elite, and when they have played the MLS elite, in the Los Angeles Galaxy, they lost. This past weekend’s victory against FC Dallas has certainly been the most impressive MLS win thus far.

What the Sounders, DC, and Minnesota will bring, therefore, is a tough slate of matches in quick succession that will test the consistency the Dynamo have against top clubs. But, while the task at hand is a tough one, the Dynamo have a chance to move top of the West should they run the table, and they have illustrated their threat already this season, even if the competition level is questioned.

The best, realistic scenario would be two wins from these three matches. A match against the Portland Timbers is placed in the middle of this slate of the schedule and a win there could make life even easier as the start to the summer gets underway.

After the Houston Dynamo get past this tough stretch of the schedule, it will get less demanding in terms of the quality of opponents they will face. Until that time, however, the Dynamo’s pedigree will be put to stand to question. This is a pivotal stretch for manager Wilmer Cabrera and his side as they will find out where they are among the MLS elite. By the end of it, they could sit right at the top.