Houston probable starters: GK Tyler Deric; Ds A.J. DeLaGarza, Adolfo Machado, Leonardo, DaMarcus Beasley; MFs Andrew Wenger, Juan Cabezas, Ricardo Clark, Alex, Memo Rodriguez; F Mauro Manotas.

>> United makes inglorious history: United’s flight home from Seattle on Thursday surely felt a dozen hours longer after the team blew a three-goal lead in the second half Wednesday night and lost to the Sounders, 4-3 — the greatest regular season comeback victory in MLS’s 22-season history. D.C. has lost four straight in league play (five in all competitions), conceded four goals in each of the past two outings and is last in the 22-team overall standings. Goalkeeper Bill Hamid remains with the U.S. national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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>> Scouting Dynamo: The Dynamo is third in the Western Conference, three points behind Kansas City and two behind Dallas, after a 0-0 draw at Minnesota on Wednesday. It’s unbeaten at home (8-0-2) and winless on the road (0-7-3). Four players have been on Gold Cup duty for weeks — Boniek Garcia (Honduras), Alberth Elis (Honduras), Romell Quioto (Honduras) and Erick Torres (Mexico) — and aren’t available Saturday.

>> A little progress in attack: While United’s defense is in a terrible rut, the attack has begun to come around after 12 scoreless performances in 18 matches. Deshorn Brown, a Jamaican striker acquired last month, and Ian Harkes, a homegrown rookie midfielder, have each scored in the past two matches. Harkes, who has started 17 games, is second on the team in shots with 24. As a team, though, United remains last in MLS with 17 goals — one more than the league’s individual scoring leader, Chicago’s Nemanja Nikolic.