Tonight we face CSD Municipal in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions cup, Municipal are a rich and storied club located in Guatemala and is the nation’s most successful team formed in 1936 and winning a mind blowing 25 league titles, this is going to be a tough game but we will need to get into scoring positions fast and kill in the game in the first 45 if we want to be in good position for the 2nd leg in Houston.

I see us playing something of a 4-4-2, with this line up:

Onstad
Waibel-Robinson-Boswell-Barrett

Ching-Caraccio

I may be wrong with the starting of Caraccio up front but I think Dominic will start him just because he has South American experience. I think this guy is the real deal and after hearing about his level of play against D.C. United I would start hurting in the pants if I was the defense up against him.

The atmosphere is supposed to be electric at the Estadio Mateo Flores, seating 30,000 and Municipal being the biggest club in area I foresee us having some problems with the heckling but overall this will be a cracker to watch.

My prediction : CSD Municipal 1-2 Houston Dynamo

Comes on at 10:00 PM Central Time on Fox Soccer Channel

But that’s about to change!

Tomorrow (Saturday) I head off to La La Land to watched the Beckhamless Galaxy take on my beloved Dynamo! That’s right: I’m finally going to see a Houston game in person. (My first, in fact.)

With LA’s lost and Chivas’ win last night, this has the makings of a great game. Chivas jumped ahead of Houston, so the Dynamo need a result and should be motivated. LA are desperate for a win. And all the talk of the “SuperClassico” derby between LA and Chivas, long-term MLS fans know that the true California derby has always been LA-San Jose, and the Dynamo are fundamentally the same players that fought in many of those classic clashes at Spartan Stadium in San Jose.

I’m hoping to do some mobile blogging updates at the game or after the game, so we’ll see how that goes. Keep an eye on this site for updates. Should be fun!

Houston also need to watch behind them, as Chivas USA, with their win over Toronto on Saturday, are inching up to within four points of the Dynamo.

Of course the Orange are coming off mixed form: after their 11-game unbeaten series, they’ve lost two 1-0 heartbreakers (one to an own goal) and were knocked out of the SuperLiga on Tuesday in a penalty kick shootout despite playing a fantastic match (Ngwenya’s penalty notwithstanding). They certainly looked to have gotten their game back on Tuesday, and now without the SuperLiga distraction they can concentrate on the league. But will they be too tired after playing two hours in the heat with just ten men most of the match?

But the Dynamo always get up for the big games, especially rivalries. The players will be motivated to play. It’s not going to be an easy game, especially with important players like Brad Davis, Stuart Holden, and Ricardo Clark missing, but surely the Orange will prevail.

And remember: it was the Dynamo-Dallas game earlier this season that righted the Dynamo’s early-season funk. Let’s hope this game will have a similar result and start a new unbeaten series!

If you can’t see the game (or you just want to follow along with me), I hope to be using Twitter to broadcast my comments live, during the game (4 p.m. PT, 7 p.m ET). Go Orange!