Sunday, May 10 | 6:00 p.m. PT
presented by ZippyPaws
🏟 | BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, CA
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LAFC returns to BMO Stadium and to the MLS regular season this Sunday, hosting Houston Dynamo FC in a Western Conference matchup and an AAPI Celebration honoring the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Los Angeles.
The Black & Gold is coming off two hard-fought road matches, a 2-2 draw in San Diego in MLS regular-season play and a 4-0 defeat in Toluca, Mexico, in the Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinals, and seeks a strong start to the remainder of its MLS schedule prior to the World Cup break, which begins on May 25. That schedule consists of four regular-season games over the next two weeks, the first coming against an ascendant Houston side that has earned five wins in its last six matches across all competitions.
LAFC stands in third place in the Western Conference standings and fourth place in the 30-team MLS Supporters’ Shield race, with 21 points and a record of 6W-2L-3D. Forwards Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga, who each put in a 90-minute shift in Wednesday’s Concacaf knockout match in Mexico, lead Major League Soccer in assists (8) and lead LAFC in goals scored (5), respectively.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris leads MLS in clean sheets, recording eight in ten starts - three more shutouts than the next closest player.
Winger-midfielder David Martínez (below) has tallied three goals and two assists in league play, and midfielder Mathieu Choinière has two goals and two assists.
MOST RECENTLY
LAFC’s unbeaten run in the Concacaf Champions Cup ended Wednesday night with a 4-0 loss to Liga MX club Toluca, a result that bounced the Black & Gold from the competition and pushed Los Diablos Rojos into the final. The match was another in a series of midweek fixtures for the Black & Gold, who have played every weekend and every midweek since the beginning of April.
LAFC had amassed a 5W-0L-2D record in Concacaf play this year prior to Wednesday’s defeat in Mexico, and had advanced to its third CCC Semifinal in the club’s nine-year history. Now the Supporters’ Shield and Western Conference playoff positioning become the main focus, as LAFC seeks its third Shield and its fifth straight top-four finish in the West.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
The Dynamo currently stand in eighth place in the Western Conference with 15 points and a record of 5W-5L-0D. Through 10 matches Houston has scored 13 goals (tied for third-fewest in the conference) and have allowed 18 (tied for sixth-most). Houston has a road record of 1W-3L-0D, with losses in Austin, Colorado, and Dallas, and its lone road win coming in Orlando on April 18.
Offseason acquisition Guilherme (Guilherme Santos), a Brazilian forward and former captain of Santos FC in his home country, leads Houston in goals scored (five) and assists (four). Twenty-four-year-old winger Lawrence Ennali has scored three goals, including a 25-yard missile against Colorado last weekend, which won that match 1-0.
The Dynamo advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals last week by defeating USL Championship side Louisville City FC, 2-1, in extra time. Veteran defender Erik Sviatchenko equalized for Houston in the 89th minute and DP forward Ezequiel Ponce scored the matchwinner in extra time. Both goals were assisted by club legend and Mexican national team veteran Héctor Herrera.
THE SERIES
LAFC defeated Houston 2-0 in Houston earlier this season, getting long-range goals from midfielders Mark Delgado (above) and Stephen Eustáquio. It was the Black & Gold’s second straight win over Houston by that score, dating back to last season’s 2-0 home result at BMO Stadium, one year ago this week.
LAFC has an all-time record of 8W-5L-5D against Houston in MLS play, including a 2-0 win over the Dynamo in the 2023 Western Conference Final.
Defending has been the series’ main theme lately. Over their last four meetings, the clubs have combined to score just five goals.
MILESTONES
In LAFC’s last league match, on May 2 in San Diego, defender Eddie Segura (above) made his 152nd regular-season appearance for LAFC, tying Carlos Vela for the most in club history. With his next appearance, the 29-year-old Colombian – LAFC’s longest-tenured player, having joined the club in November 2018 – will become the club’s all-time leader in MLS regular-season appearances. Segura’s friend and former teammate Vela played in 152 regular-season games for LAFC between 2018 and 2024.
Bouanga is the only LAFC player who has started each of the club’s first eleven regular-season games this year. Against San Diego last weekend Bouanga scored his 70th career MLS regular-season goal. Only 50 other players in MLS history have reached that mark.
LAFC WILL WIN IF
Its home support and its internal grit steers the team away from a post-Concacaf hangover. In 2023, after the Black & Gold lost an energy-sapping Champions Cup Final to Club León, LAFC captured just two wins over its next nine league matches (2W-5L-2D) and finished with its second-lowest point total in its eight full seasons of play.
This current side needs a response like the one it showed in 2025, after it was eliminated in the Concacaf Quarterfinals by Inter Miami. LAFC went unbeaten over its next ten matches in all competitions, including an emotional 2-1 win over Club América in the FIFA Club World Cup Play-in match.
HOUSTON CAN WIN IF
Its defensive form holds. Head coach Ben Olsen’s side conceded 16 goals in its first six MLS matches this year, but has only allowed two goals in its last four—including three clean sheets.
