The Houston Dynamo return home on a night when they will be receiving their championship rings from a year ago looking to recapture their title-winning form, going winless in the month of April. They will be entertaining a Chivas USA team that is also trying to find the formula of a season ago when they won the Western Conference regular season title - now riding a three-game losing streak and having allowed the most goals in Major League Soccer.

REFEREE: Jozef Batko. SAR (bench): Kermit Quisenberry; JAR (opposite): Jason Cullum; 4th: Jasen Anno
MLS Career: 9 games; FC/gm: 26.1; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 1; pens: 2

INJURY REPORT: HOUSTON DYNAMO - NONE REPORTED … CHIVAS USA - OUT: FW Alecko Eskandarian (L groin strain), DF Alex Zotinca (R knee ACL surgery)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: HOU: DF Eddie Robinson (through May 3)

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (7 meetings): Dynamo 3 wins, 11 goals … Chivas USA 1 win, 5 goals … Ties 3
AT ROBERTSON STADIUM (4 meetings): Dynamo 3 wins, 8 goals … Chivas USA 0 wins, 1 goal … Ties 1
• This is the first of three meetings between the clubs this season, the first of two at Robertson Stadium. They will next meet on Aug. 20, also in the Bayou City, with the final matchup coming in the season finale for both clubs, Oct. 25 at The Home Depot Center.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/14: HOU 1, CHV 0 (Ching 64)
6/21: HOU 4, CHV 0 (Mullan 5; Davis 55, 70, 75)
10/20: CHV 0, HOU 0
• A year ago, Chivas USA failed to score in three meetings between the teams, the Dynamo winning both games before they played to a scoreless draw in Carson in the season finale.
• Chivas last scored in a league game against Houston on Aug. 26, 2006, having now gone 393 minutes without a goal against the Orange. In that time was also the Western Conference Semifinal Series between the clubs in 2006, won 3-2 on aggregate by Houston.
• The last time Chivas USA scored in a league match against Houston also came in their only victory against the Dynamo in seven all-time league meetings.
• Coaches record: Dominic Kinnear vs. CHV: P11 W5 L1 D5 … Preki v HOU: P3 W0 L2 D1

HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo are still looking for their first victory on the season, a three-game unbeaten streak ending with a 1-0 defeat by the Columbus Crew on Saturday evening at Crew Stadium. The Dynamo sit tied for sixth place in the Western Conference with three points from five matches, level with the San Jose Earthquakes, five points out of first place.
LAST MATCH
• The Crew were returning home after winning a second in a row while the Houston Dynamo were simply looking for their first victory, three draws having followed a season-opening loss as they began defense of their back-to-back titles.
• The game’s lone goal came in the 22nd minute. A corner was driven in from the left and Chad Marshall steamed in, powering a header on goal. It was blocked by Dynamo defender Patrick Ianni on the line, but Alejandro Moreno was finally able to push the rebound into the net for his third goal in as many games and fourth on the season.
• Will Hesmer made six saves in defense of the shutout, including a spectacular diving stop at full stretch to his right, stopping a rising bid from outside the area from Wade Barrett in the 89th minute.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made one change to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy the previous weekend at The Home Depot Center. Pat Onstad returned from injury to his post in goal, replacing Tony Caig.
• Here’s Kinnear’s team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Richard Mulrooney, Bobby Boswell, Patrick Ianni (Stuart Holden 77), Wade Barrett - Brian Mullan (Corey Ashe 77), Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis - Dwayne De Rosario - Franco Caraccio (Geoff Cameron 87), Brian Ching. Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Brown, Chris Wondolowski, Tony Caig, Craig Waibel
• “We’re disappointed right now, but I can’t say it’s because of not playing good soccer. It’s just sometimes you’re getting the breaks and sometimes you’re not, and we’re getting punished for mistakes and getting punished severely,” Kinnear said.
TEAM NEWS
• A season ago, the Dynamo won just two of their opening eight matches, losing five of those, and yet still came back to claim a second consecutive MLS Cup.
• “It’s nothing new, but we don’t want to make it a habit. It’s been pretty slow. I don’t think we started off as slow last year, but it’s a long season and we just have to be mindful of that and not get our heads too far down and just try to focus and prepare better for next week and capitalize on the chances we have,” Dwayne De Rosario said.
• The loss also finished out a three-game road swing for the Dynamo. After back-to-back home games, another three-game away stretch looms, with trips to Chicago, San Jose and Dallas.
• “I think [having] a lot of away games is tiring us as well. I think these home games coming up will hopefully do us some justice and get some wins and get the taste of victory in our mouth and get a good roll going,” De Rosario said.
• Pat Onstad returned to action after being injured in the opening half-hour of the draw with FC Dallas on April 6. Tony Caig came in between the posts for the two full matches Onstad missed.
• “It is nice to be in there. It would feel a lot better if we were on the other end of the result. It was a game that I thought we played really well,” Onstad said. “I thought we shot ourselves in the foot. We were very poor defending the corner kick, but overall I thought that it was a good performance by us.”
• Said Kinnear: “Pat was good, he couldn’t do anything about the goal, it was a scramble in front of goal. I thought his distribution was good and he made a good save in the second half off the corner kick, so Pat’s good, we all know that, and it was good to have him back in there.”
• After a record-setting defensive performance a season ago, the Dynamo had allowed eight goals in four matches before the Crew game (though with one shutout). The match in Columbus, while still allowing the game’s only goal, could represent a start of return to that form.
• “I thought the guys played well tonight. We were talking before the game tonight that we wanted to be organized and communicate a little better than we have in the past, and I thought that the guys up did a very good job of that,” Onstad said. “We made it difficult to break it down, but I think that it is one of those games where when the team scores, they spend the majority of the match trying to defend it. Give Columbus credit, they kept a clean sheet and won the game.”
• The Dynamo will receive their 2007 MLS Cup championship rings in a ceremony before Saturday’s match. “It’s refreshing to know that we are going to be back at Robertson next Saturday night in front of our crowd, and we’ll take advantage of it,” midfielder Richard Mulrooney said.

CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA saw their downward spiral continue, losing for the third consecutive weekend - this time to their Home Depot Center arch-rivals, 5-2 to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday evening. Chivas USA are tied for fourth place in the Western Conference with four points from four matches, four off the pace set by FC Dallas atop the division.
LAST MATCH
• Both teams came into the first SuperClasico game of the season off somewhat rocky starts, each with two losses among their four matches played and both near the bottom of the league’s defensive performances.
• In front of the usual pitched atmosphere in Carson, Donovan set the game alight with his 18th-minute opener. Latching on to a half-clearance, he popped the ball up with his right foot and lashed home a volley with his left from outside the area. But Sacha Kljestan pulled Chivas level in the 38th minute with another wonderful goal, running at a Galaxy defender on the right before hooking a masterful effort inside the right-hand post.
• After the break, the game exploded. Donovan scored his second and put the Galaxy back into the lead in the 59th minute, snatching a Mike Randolph cross that Claudio Suarez couldn’t clear and putting it home from the spot on the half-turn. But Chivas were again level just three minutes later, Ante Razov netting his first of the year after a corner took a deflection right to him in the box.
• The Galaxy then scored three goals in a nine-minute span to put the game away. A cross was knocked straight up in the area, and Alan Gordon outjumped the punch attempt of Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan to loop home the third (76). A minute later Donovan finished off his hat trick in style — a long ball from behind midfield chested down by Gordon for Donovan to drive inside the left-hand post for his eighth goal on the campaign.
• Gordon then sent the blue-and-yellow side of Victoria Street into rapture with his second after coming off the bench, tapping home from close range after Donovan relayed a David Beckham pullback from the right side toward the far post.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made two changes to the team that lost 2-0 to FC Dallas the Sunday before in Carson. Sacha Kljestan and Francisco Mendoza both returned from suspension, in place of Chris Pozniak and Kraig Chiles.
• Here’s Preki’s team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Lawson Vaughn, Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas (Atiba Harris 79), Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura (Raphael Wicky 81), Francisco Mendoza - Maykel Galindo (Ante Razov 57), Justin Braun. Substitutes Not Used: Jim Curtin, Dan Kennedy, Chris Pozniak, Keith Savage
• “Obviously the sharpness in front of our goal hasn’t been the best. It’s not one guy, the whole team was making mistakes and we got punished by them,” Preki said. “That’s the name of the game - sometimes you don’t play well, sometimes you play well, sometimes you play well and get nothing, sometimes you make mistakes and get punished for them. Tonight we made mistakes and we got punished.”
TEAM NEWS
• The five goals allowed to the Galaxy tied a Chivas record, set three times previously, last in 2006 at New York. “It’s tough, anytime you give up five goals it’s tough whoever we’re playing,” Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. “This is one of the hardest games I’ve ever been a part of, just demoralized on the field.”
• It was the second time in three games Chivas USA were overwhelmed late in a game. Two weeks earlier in Columbus, the Crew scored twice in the final 20 minutes - including the game-winner in the 82nd minute - for an eventual 4-3 victory.
• “I thought we had some good fight. I thought we fought back and got our goal, tied the game up and kind of evened things out. Heading into halftime I felt good. I felt like everyone had the right mentality and everyone had the right intensity,” Jonathan Bornstein said. “Something happened late in the game so where it slipped away from us.”
• While Kljestan and Mendoza were welcome additions from suspension, Ante Razov was available only for substitute duty for a second consecutive match after missing two matches. He’s started only the season opener.
• “I think that has a little to do with it. When we went on our big run last year we had the same starting 11 for a lot of the time,” Kljestan said. “It’s been tough not having Ante in there, somebody who keeps the ball real well for us up front. It’s tough, I don’t think we’re 100 percent fit yet. We have a lot of guys that aren’t match fit yet and that hurts us.”
• A year ago, Chivas USA allowed just 29 goals in 30 games. The club has yet to post a shutout this year, and the Galaxy game marked the fifth time in five games that Chivas USA has allowed the first goal of the game.
• “We wanted to apply a lot of pressure from the beginning and kind of put them on their heels,” Bornstein said. “When you give up an early goal it’s not really the way we wanted it to work out.”
• In addition, Chivas USA has won just once this season and is sitting on a three-game losing streak. The last time Chivas USA lost three games in a row was in 2005.
• “It’s going to be hard for us to come back from this,” Kljestan said. “This is tough, three losses in a row but if any team can do it I believe our team can. We have great leadership and we have a lot of great young players. I’m not worried about our team at all.”