Storylines | RSL Prepares For Crucial Midweek Match at Houston

By Javier Mico-Crump

After staving off Son Heung-min, Denis Bouanga and LAFC to earn a 2-2 draw at America First Field on Saturday, Real Salt Lake hits the road on a quick turnaround for a midweek battle at Houston on Wednesday at Shell Energy Stadium. Desperate to snap its active nine-game MLS winless streak - the Club’s longest since 2007, and the fifth-longest in 22 seasons all-time - the Claret-and-Cobalt hope to carry the momentum of Saturday’s late dramatics into its South Texas standoff. 

This edition of Storylines explores RSL’s recent midweek matches, and analyzes the Club’s long history against Houston.

RSL Prepares For Another Midweek Clash

Wednesday’s match at Houston will be the 12th in a critical and arduous stretch of 13 games in just 44 days for the Claret-and-Cobalt. Since the World Cup break, Real Salt Lake has had mixed performances in its five midweek encounters in Leagues Cup and MLS, holding a record of 1-3-1 (W-L-T) across those games. 

RSL’s midweek successes in those matches came at home, claiming a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Liga MX power Tigres UANL to open Leagues Cup on August 4, in addition to a dominant 3-0 win over FC Juarez a week later on August 11. The Claret-and-Cobalt also hosted FC Dallas on August 19, and despite allowing three first-half goals, climbing back from a 1-3 halftime deficit to pull even, RSL fell 3-4 to the Texas side after conceding another late goal. 

On the other hand, Mastroeni and Co. have struggled in midweek matchups when playing away in recent months. The return from the break started with a 3-1 loss at LAFC on July 22, and most recently, RSL fell 3-0 to Mexican side Club León at a neutral venue in Denver on August 25. While the Claret-and-Cobalt’s offense delivered 8 goals in those five midweek games, the defense has been the weak point, conceding 11 across the same stretch. RSL seeks to break that trend Wednesday against Houston, when it will also be looking to end a nine-match MLS winless run dating back to May 16, as well as a 10-game road winless streak, which dates back to March 7.

RSL vs Houston: Recent And Historic Trends

Recent history points in Real Salt Lake's favor for Wednesday’s matchup, with the Utah side currently on a three-game win streak against Houston Dynamo FC. That run started in March of 2025, when RSL traveled to Shell Energy Stadium and claimed a 2-1 victory away in South Texas, continuing on in July of last year with a 1-0 home win at America First Field. In their most recent encounter in May 2026, the Claret-and-Cobalt secured an emphatic 3-0 win, with RSL Academy product and new Crystal Palace player Zavier Gozo scoring a second-half brace. 

Historically, however, playing in Houston has proven to be a difficult task for RSL. Across 20 years of matches, the Claret-and-Cobalt have only won four times against the Dynamo on Texas soil, with 11 losses and five draws while conceding 38 goals, only scoring 29 in MLS regular-season play. In fact, the win in March of 2025 ended a nine-game road winless streak against the Dynamo dating back to 2019. In 2023, RSL saw Houston eliminate the Utah side in not one but two different competitions, the Dynamo winning that year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal 3-1, after 120 minutes, while also winning the teams’ three-game Audi MLS Cup Playoff series with a regulation win in Houston in the first leg and a shootout tiebreaker decision after the third game.

With only 12 games remaining in 2026 and hovering just outside the playoff window amidst a glut of Western Conference teams tightly-packed from places third through 12th, RSL will hope to replicate its recent performances against Houston to earn its first win in MLS action since May 16. 

Kickoff at the Dynamo is set for 6:30 p.m. MT this Wednesday from Shell Energy Stadium, with the game available to stream on Apple TV. Following the midweek battle, RSL returns to America First Field this Saturday, September 12, to face New York City FC, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. MT. Tickets available at www.RSL.com/tickets.