MIAMI, Florida – Major League Soccer (MLS) rivals Houston Dynamo and St. Louis City SC will square off for the first time in Concacaf competition in the first leg of Round One of the 2024 Champions Cup on Tuesday night at CityPark in St. Louis, Missouri.
It will be a special night for St. Louis City, as they qualified for the Champions Cup after making their debut in MLS in 2023.
St. Louis City finished in first-place in the Western Conference during the regular season to secure their first ever Champions Cup place and will now try to make more history by winning a first ever Concacaf match.
In order for that to happen, they will need star Brazilian FW Joao Klauss to be at his usual best. Klauss scored 10 goals last season in MLS, finishing as the team’s joint-top scorer. Another key piece is creative MF Eduard Lowen, who delivered 14 assists on top of six goals in 2023.
While the Champions Cup is unchartered territory for St. Louis City, the Houston Dynamo are already quite familiar with the tournament and will be appearing in their eighth Champions Cup in 2024.
Houston qualified for the Champions Cup by virtue of winning the 2023 U.S. Open Cup and have a midfield that can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the region.
In the center of the park for the Dynamo are Hector Herrera and Adalberto Carrasquilla, who just so happen to be the last two winners of the Concacaf Gold Cup Best Player Award. Herrera achieved that feat with Mexico in 2021 and Carrasquilla two years later in 2023 with Panama.
The defense is also solid, anchored by GK Steve Clark, while Houston will be hoping to get productive scoring from their forward line led by Sebastian Ferreira.
These two sides met twice last season in MLS, with St. Louis City earning a 3-0 win at home, followed by a 1-1 draw in Houston.
Match Officials St. Louis CITY SC (USA) vs Houston Dynamo FC (USA)
REF: ADONAI ESCOBEDO (Mexico)
AR1: CHRISTIAN ESPINOSA (Mexico)
AR2: MICHEL ESPINOZA (Mexico)
4TH: DANIEL QUINTERO (Mexico)
VAR: GUILLERMO PACHECO (Mexico)
VAR1: OSCAR MACIAS (Mexico)
