Houston Dynamo take on Portland Timbers in the Western Conference in the MLS on Wednesday.
The two sides head into the meeting level on points inside the playoff positions, with Portland two places ahead of their forthcoming opponents courtesy of boasting a superior goal difference.
Match preview
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Having failed to qualify for the playoffs in six of the previous seven seasons, Houston are desperately hoping for a better campaign under Tab Ramos.
Dynamo have stuck by the 54-year-old, who made 81 appearances for the United States national team despite being born in Montevideo, Uruguay, after a difficult debut season in the dugout last year.
Indeed, Houston finished 12th in the Western Conference with only 21 points from 23 games, with their hopes of adding a third MLS Cup to the two they won back-to-back in 2006 and 2007 looking a long way off at present.
In former Wigan Athletic and Hull City defender Maynor Figueroa, who has made 168 caps and counting for Honduras, they possess an experienced defender to help them at the back.
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Despite only being founded in 2009, Portland have certainly enjoyed greater success than Houston in recent years, winning the MLS Cup for the first time in 2015 before losing in the final to Atlanta United three years later.
Giovanni Savarese was in charge of that final having taken over as manager in December 2017, but has failed to guide the Timbers past the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
However, the fact that Portland have reached the playoffs in five of the past six campaigns shows signs of a very healthy club indeed, with Savarese hoping to win the MLS Cup for the first time this season.
Three wins from their last four matches suggests that they may not be too far away; a win in Houston on Wednesday would go a long way towards cementing their position in the playoff positions.
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Team News
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It remains to be seen whether Ethan Bartlow will be involved for Houston on Wednesday, with the defender yet to feature for the club this season having sustained concussion in April.
Fafa Picault and Matias Vera will need to be careful as one more yellow card would see them incur a suspension, having already received four bookings this season.
Portland, meanwhile, look set to travel without long-term absentees Ismaila Jome, Jeff Attinella, Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Cristhian Paredes.
The quartet have not featured for some time due to Achilles tendon injuries, though, while Andy Polo also tore a muscle last month.
Defender Dario Zuparic is on four cautions for the season and, like Picault and Vera, would miss the next match should he receive another.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Maric; Valentin, Parker, Figueroa, Junqua; Vera, Jones, Rodriguez; Picault, Urruti, Pasher
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Clark; Van Rankin, Tuiloma, Zuparic, Bravo; Loria, Williamson, Chara, Asprilla; Ebobisse, Valeri
We say: Houston Dynamo 1-2 Portland Timbers
Portland have a game in hand on Houston, and we expect them to open up a three-point gap over them on top of that after looking improved of late.
With both sides scoring and conceding more than a goal per game on average so far this season, it should be an entertaining affair regardless of the result.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Houston Dynamo win with a probability of 44.22%. A win for Portland Timbers had a probability of 30.68% and a draw had a probability of 25.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Houston Dynamo win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.59%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.12%) and 2-0 (7.36%). The likeliest Portland Timbers win was 0-1 (7.73%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.86%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.6% likelihood.
