The Seattle Sounders will have an opportunity to make MLS history on Wednesday when they host the Houston Dynamo from Lumen Field.
The Rave Green drew 1-1 with the Colorado Rapids to remain unbeaten on the season, while the Dynamo had a fourth successive draw, with a 1-1 result against FC Cincinnati.
Match preview
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After a dozen games played, the Seattle Sounders continue to defy the critics, who anticipated an off-year for the 2020 MLS Cup runners-up, with the loss of numerous key players and a new system in place.
Instead of taking a step back, however, Seattle have looked just as good, if not better, and they found a way to grind out another result last Sunday against a talented Colorado team, despite Brian Schmetzer employing a new 3-4-2-1 formation.
You have to hand it to the Seattle manager, who continuously gets his tactics right despite many critical injuries to the squad, and his team always seem to respond when they look down and out.
Equalling a league record, with a 12-match unbeaten run to start this campaign is quite an accomplishment, but you know that this team will be motivated to reach 13 on Wednesday, not to mention the fact that they are now even on points with Sporting Kansas City for the top spot in the Western Conference.
A team as determined as the Sounders have been will always be looking for ways to fine-tune their game, and one area that they will be keying on is doing a better job of closing out their matches, failing to win their last two fixtures despite scoring first.
Striker Raul Ruidiaz may be their go-to guy upfront but make no mistake, this is a team with various attacking threats, with eight different players getting their name on the scoresheet so far and seven notching at least one assist.
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The Houston Dynamo have been far from spectacular in their opening 12 games, but they seem to be doing just enough to get by.
With four points in their last four fixtures, they are clinging to the seventh and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 15 points.
The key for Tab Ramos and his team will be not to fall apart as they did after their first dozen games last season, where they won only one of their final 14 matches, failing to make the post season for a third successive campaign.
A win or a draw on Wednesday would mark the third time in the past five seasons that they have gone unbeaten in five successive regular-season games.
They have usually started a match well, with 10 of their 16 goals coming in the first half, but they tend to get fatigued as a game goes on, conceding 10 of their 17 goals so far in the second half.
Last weekend, Houston dominated in several statistical categories, which is rare, including out shooting Cincinnati 21-11, the first time they had outshot an opponent since their 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on May 22.
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Team News
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Midfielder Will Bruin is likely to miss this match for the Sounders with a torn meniscus, while left winger Jordan Morris and defensive midfielder Jordy Delem are out with cruciate ligament ruptures.
Goalkeeper Stefan Frei is still nursing a knee injury, and attacking midfielder, Nicolas Lodeiro is recovering from knee surgery.
Defender Alex Roldan notched his first goal of the season versus the Rapids, but he will not have a chance to add to that tally as he will be away on international duty with El Salvador at the Gold Cup.
His teammate Cristian Roldan will be with the United States for the competition, but defender Xavier Arreaga could be available after Ecuador were knocked out of the Copa America last week by Argentina.
Midfielder Joao Paulo leads the team in assists with five, which is good for third in the league, while he also leads the Sounders in key passes with 25.
Houston centre-back Ethan Bartlow is still recovering from a concussion that has kept him out of the lineup since early April.
Adam Lundqvist could return to the starting 11 after being a healthy scratch last weekend versus Cincinnati, and he leads the team in interceptions with 25 so far this year.
Midfielder Darwin Ceren is with El Salvador for the Gold Cup, while their second-leading goalscorer Tyler Pasher will represent Canada, defender Maynor Figueroa will captain Honduras in the tournament and he will be joined in that squad with his teammate, midfielder Boniek Garcia.
The leading goalscorer for the Dynamo this season, Maximiliano Urruti, has scored three of his teams' last four goals away from home.
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Cleveland; Cissoko, O'Neill, Gomez; Smith, Medranda, Leyva, Paulo, Rowe; Montero, Ruidiaz
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Maric; Valentin, Bizama, Figueroa, Lundqvist; Corona, Hoffmann, Rodriguez; Quintero, Urruti, Picault
We say: Seattle Sounders 2-0 Houston Dynamo
Nothing seems to phase this Sounders team, who now have some competition on their hands for the Supporters' Shield and are on the verge of MLS history, so there is no shortage of motivation for this team, who are in a safe spot when it comes to the MLS playoffs.
Houston are without a win on the road this season, scoring multiple goals only once, which will make it challenging against the Sounders, who have scored multiple goals at home in all but two games thus far.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
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 Seattle Sounders win with a probability of 68.55%. A draw had a probability of 19% and a win for Houston Dynamo had a probability of 12.49%.
The most likely scoreline for a Seattle Sounders win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.28%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.48%) and 2-1 (9.65%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.02%), while for a Houston Dynamo win it was 0-1 (4.22%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 12.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Seattle Sounders in this match.
