For the Houston Dynamo, this weekend's trip to Chicago to face the red-hot Fire (no pun intended) can't come soon enough.
Coming off a 2-1 victory last weekend against the Colorado Rapids, their first of the season, the Dynamo are primed to see how they measure up against one of the league's best thus far this season.
"That game could have been 3-, 4- or even 5-1," said Dynamo midfielder Brian Mullan of last weekend's home win. "We have the confidence now, so hopefully that sparks our goal scoring as well."
The Fire are at their defensive best, coming off back-to-back shutouts against Eastern Conference powers New England and D.C. United by a combined 5-0 score. They have won three consecutive games after a 1-0 setback to Kansas City and are undefeated against the Western Conference as well.
No team in the league has allowed fewer goals than the Fire's three. And no team has a plus-10 goal differential as the Fire, who seem to be winning with a defense that most MLS experts never predicted.
"Chicago has been playing really well," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "They have some very good attacking players. We have to take care of the ball when we have it. When the ball turns over, we have to make sure where (Cuauhtemoc) Blanco is because he's a dangerous player in transition."
The Mexican-born Blanco has scored three goals on 16 shots, even though he takes a hit from the opposition as being a player who ignores his defensive responsibilities.
The Dynamo will look to take advantage of that theory with the hope of getting more room to do some offensive things with the ball.
"It might be a little bit of a change to see a team throw a lot of attacking guys forward. Maybe create some space offensively and defensively," Kinnear said.
In their last two games, the Dynamo have been tweaking their lineup a bit, looking for the right combination to get the team out of a season-long offensive funk. Mullan, for example, has played on top in two games in a row and played alongside Brian Ching last weekend.
It wasn't a wasted move, but the change did not produce a goal and it is not something the Dynamo will try again. As for Mullan, he'd just as soon stick to the part of the field he knows the best, the midfield.
"It's not my favorite thing to do," Mullan said. "If it helps the team out, then I am willing to do it. I am definitely more comfortable in the midfield position. Playing up front, it was harder for me to switch back-and-forth like that. It's a different kind of running and a different mentality. (Up front), I'm trying to shoot and score rather than just pass and assist."
Kinnear said the experiment with Mullan is over, but that the team will continue to look for ways to improve while taking advantage of a weakness on the other side of the ball.
"That's kind of done," Kinnear said. "We put (Mullan) up top for his speed and his energy. That's kind of the only one we've been doing. Sometimes when you are losing, you try and put another player forward on the attack or change your formation. I'm pretty happy with the way things are going right now."
Mullan and Kinnear both said the team is more confident after finally being rewarded with a win for their hard work. Whether or not that continues remains to be seem. But they will try Saturday against a Chicago team looking for league dominance.
"We have played well in almost every game up until we got the win," Mullan said. "Now, hopefully, I hope this means that the floodgates have opened up and the wins will start coming."
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
