The Caps have one last dance before the Leagues Cup break and they will hope to keep a run of solid form going at home against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday.

Wins in five of their last six matches have given the Caps a boost up to fourth in the Western Conference standings, though the gap between them and Houston, in eighth place, remains a mere four points (the Dynamo are also a rare team that has not played more games than Vancouver). That means the showdown on Saturday has some playoff stakes.

The Dynamo are coming in with some good form of their own, winning four of their last five games and they are unbeaten since late May, aside from a loss to Real Salt Lake — hardly anything to sniff at.

Many thought Ben Olson’s side would struggle out of the gate without their leader and best player, Hector Herrera, but instead Houston treaded water in time for Herrera to return and he has remained one of their best players.

The Dynamo are tough to beat, with arguably one of the best midfields in the league with Herrera, Artur and Coco Carrasquilla, the latter of which has been turned into a hybrid number 8/winger. They like to use that group to control the game, moving the line of confrontation up to wing back balls and then use their midfield talent to ping around short passes in tight spaces. All the while, they try to maximize the amount of time Herrera spends on the ball.

Their attack has overperformed expectations, led by Amine Bassi and Ibrahim Aliyu. It will only get better with the addition of Ezequiel Ponce, who will be able to make his debut Saturday and has been training with the team, meaning he may well jump right into the starting XI for a side which has lacked an elite striker (though Sebastian Ferreira has looked better as of late).

Possession numbers for Houston are high — this is very much a team that wants the ball. That could play to Vancouver’s strength on the counter but this is also a team that is difficult to break down, having conceded the fourth fewest goals in the entire league. That has been largely down to the performance of Caps nemesis Steve Clark in goal.

Vancouver will be a bit undermanned at the back for this one, with Mathias Laborda out injured and Javain Brown getting a break (potentially mental health related?), all the while doubts swirl about whether the Jamaican will play again for the Caps any time soon. Fafa Picault’s good form and the fact that he didn’t start in the midweek would make me think he will slot into the lineup and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Seb Berhalter, another player who has been humming as of late, get a start as well.

The Caps have a chance here to end the first half of the season on a real high. Their home struggles have eased a bit as of late, though anyone expecting them to seize the initiative at home will likely be disappointed given Houston’s playing style. This should be an entertaining matchup between two likely playoff teams. Given the Dynamo’s spending on two, high-quality attacking pieces, these are the teams Vancouver risks losing ground to with another stagnant transfer window. Perhaps they’ll be able to head that off with three points on Saturday.