Chivas USA (1-3-1) at Houston (0-2-3), 8:30 p.m.

Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Houston Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was quick to dismiss the two-time defending Major League Soccer champions' winless start after it grew to five games last week.

"It's nothing new," De Rosario said.

Last season, Houston won just two of its first eight matches - including five losses - but went on to capture its second straight MLS Cup.

"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," De Rosario said.

Houston will get a reminder of last season's success Saturday when it receives its championship rings before hosting Chivas USA at Robertson Stadium.

"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," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said.

Chivas USA has not scored in three straight against Houston, and De Rosario is hopeful this weekend will mark the start of the Dynamo's turnaround.

"(Hopefully we) get some wins and get the taste of victory in our mouth and get a good roll going," De Rosario said.

Houston has played just one game at home this season - it tied FC Dallas 3-3 - and plays seven of its first 10 on the road.

That's why midfielder Richard Mulrooney wants the Dynamo to "take advantage" of the home crowd. Houston remains home next week against the Colorado Rapids, but then goes on another three-game road trip.

Houston has been on the road for the last three weeks, tying the Kansas City Wizards and Los Angeles Galaxy and losing to the Columbus Crew last week.

Houston has allowed nine goals through five games, but starting goalkeeper Pat Onstad returned last week and the team feels better on the defensive side.

"It is nice to be in there," said Onstad, who had 11 shutouts and a league-low 0.82 goals against average last year.

Chivas USA, which hasn't scored in 393 consecutive minutes against Houston, is also off to a slow start. Chivas has just one victory and three losses in five matches and dropped its most recent game to L.A., 5-2.

"We made mistakes and we got punished," Chivas USA coach Preki said last week.

The defending Western Conference regular-season champions have nine goals even with striker Ante Razov missing time, but have allowed a league-high 13.

Razov has entered the last two games as a substitute and Sacha Kljestan hopes he can regain full fitness soon and the club can return to last season's form.

"When we went on our big run last year we had the same starting 11 for a lot of the time. It's been tough not having Ante in there, somebody who keeps the ball real well for us up front," said Kljestan, who leads Chivas with three goals and two assists.