7 p.m. vs. Houston Dynamo • Ch. 29, 1500-AM

It's a clash of the road worriers

Preview: There are four teams in Major League Soccer that still are winless on the road more than halfway through the season. Minnesota United and the Houston Dynamo are half of that group at 0-7-2, but luckily for the Loons, they're home Wednesday. In fact, United has four home matches in 17 days. And United will need to take advantage, because Houston is 8-7-4 overall for third in the Western Conference while the Loons are at the bottom at 5-11-3.

Last time out: United had one of its only positive road performances the last time the teams met, a 2-2 draw on April 15. That's especially impressive considering Houston has the second-best home record in MLS at 8-0-2. Despite falling behind 2-0 in the first half, United rallied in the last 45 minutes with goals from forward Christian Ramirez and midfielder Johan Venegas.

Absences: D George Malki (knee), M Eric Alexander (knee) are out injured for Houston, while F Romell Quioto, F Erick Torres, M Boniek Garcia, F Alberth Ellis are on national team duty. M Bernardo Anor (leg), D Thomas de Villardi (Achilles' tendon), D Marc Burch (groin), F Abu Danladi (thigh), G John Alvbage (thumb), D Kevin Venegas (quadriceps) are out injured for United, while D Francisco Calvo, M Johan Venegas and D Jermaine Taylor are on national team duty.

Megan Ryan