Marc Dos Santos believes his Los Angeles FC side have an "amazing mindset" that will prove vital as they look to shake off their Concacaf Champions League elimination.

LAFC were defeated 5-2 by Toluca on aggregate after the second leg of their semi-final tie ended 4-0 in favour of the Liga MX leaders. 

But Dos Santos' side are still in a strong position in MLS, sitting on 21 points following their 2-2 draw with San Diego FC in their last outing. 

The Black and Gold found themselves under the pump for much of that clash at Snapdragon Stadium but fought back late on through goals from Denis Bouanga and Ryan Hollingshead to snatch a point. And that resilience marks a big positive, according to Dos Santos. 

"I want to reinforce the resilience of this group, in that we never give up," the LAFC boss said ahead of Sunday's clash with the Houston Dynamo.

"You know, we're a group that has 18 games in about two months and a week. And in those 18 games, we lost two. We keep grinding, pushing and our guys have an amazing mindset and that's important. 

"So, it's like almost two minds coming into our matches. You want to have guys set up for you to win the game, always. 

"When you have imperfect games like this [against SDFC], you have to highlight a lot of the positive things.  

"And coming back in the way we did, in this stadium, against an opponent that needed the win badly too, it shows the mindset of our guys and that that's an amazing place to be." 

Houston, meanwhile, went into the weekend one point outside the top seven in the West.

The Dynamo picked up a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids in their last outing, courtesy of Lawrence Ennali's second-half strike. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

LAFC – Ryan Hollingshead 

Hollingshead scored a 104th-minute equaliser against San Diego in LAFC's last MLS game – the second-latest match-tying goal in regular-season history.

New York Red Bull's Tom Barlow maintains the record for his 107th-minute equaliser in 2023.  

Hollingshead's goal marked LAFC's second-latest goal in an MLS match, behind Gareth Bale's extra-time strike at 127:18 in the 2022 MLS Cup final, albeit Dos Santos will be hoping his team do not need any late heroics on Sunday.

Houston Dynamo – Lawrence Ennali 

In their win over Colorado last week, Ennali became the fifth different Houston player to score a match-winning goal in MLS play this season.  

Only the Vancouver Whitecaps and San Jose Earthquakes have had more players (seven each) score a winner than the Dynamo this term. 

MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN 

LAFC are heavy favourites, as they look to extend their three-match unbeaten MLS run and consolidate their place in the upper reaches of the Western Conference. 

Dos Santos' side triumphed 2-0 the last time these two sides met in February, with Mark Delgado and Stephen Eustaquio on target. 

In total, LAFC and Houston have met 20 times previously across competitions, with at least one team being held scoreless in each of the last eight meetings. Interestingly, neither team was shut out in any of the first 12 matchups between the two sides. 

LAFC fought hard to secure a late draw at San Diego in their last MLS outing – the fourth time in the past two seasons they have earned a draw after trailing by two goals in MLS play (regular season and playoffs). With their draw at Snapdragon Stadium, Dos Santos' side tied Dallas for the most such MLS comebacks. 

Houston, though, have won three of their last four MLS matches, albeit with a new, disciplined style of play.  

Each of those victories have come via a 1-0 scoreline, with last week's win over Colorado their 11th 1-0 regular-season victory since the start of the 2024 season – tied for the most in that span with FC Cincinnati and the Seattle Sounders. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY 

LAFC – 66.3% 

Draw – 18.3% 

Houston Dynamo – 15.4%