Houston (8-4-8) at New York (7-6-7), 10 p.m.

East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - The Houston Dynamo will be going for their fifth straight Major League Soccer win when they travel to take on the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The two-time defending league champions are coming off a mid-week fixture in which they scored four first-half goals for the second game in a row, the most recent being a 4-0 shutout win over Chivas USA.

"There's not much more we could have asked for [Wednesday night]," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We kept a shutout, which was very important and something we talked about at halftime. Overall, it was an excellent win. We are scoring goals now and playing very well, so I am pleased for the guys because I do know the work they are putting in every day."

The Dynamo (8-4-8) are also on a seven game unbeaten run and currently hold the top spot in the Western Conference table by five points over second-placed Real Salt Lake.

The Red Bulls are surging as well, winning two straight while going unbeaten in four since coach Juan Carlos Osorio brought in reinforcements from South America.

The New York's most recent fixture, vs. Toronto on Aug. 17, saw the team earn its fifth clean sheet of the season in a 2-0 win.

"It was a fantastic result. I think we went the entire 90 minutes and deserved the three points," Osorio said. "We had a great effort and some outstanding individual performances. It was great to have a clean sheet and a second consecutive win."

One drawback from the game, however, was the fact that defender Gabriel Cichero was issued a red card for an elbow to the head of TFC forward Danny Dichio. Cichero was later suspended through the Red Bulls Aug. 30 match at D.C. United. Starting center back Jeff Parke was also injured in the game. He is listed as questionable for Sunday's fixture.

The Red Bulls (7-6-7) were pleased how the team responded to the loss of two starting defenders to still earn the clean sheet last weekend.

"I think it shows that we're ready to make a run here," Red Bulls midfielder Seth Stammler said. "We've been talking about it for a number of weeks, but I think everybody is settling into their position, knowing their role on the team and we're starting to figure it out."

"I think it shows a lot of character," Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel said. "There's still a lot of games to go, but I'm very pleased we're picking the pace up right now and we're winning against two teams from the same conference."

Now New York will aim to get a win against a team in the West.