Houston Dynamo take on Los Angeles FC in the Western Conference of MLS on Saturday, with the visitors looking to maintain their unbeaten record in the early stages of the season.
Houston, meanwhile, have won one match and lost one so far.
Match preview
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Having won the MLS Championship in each of their two debut campaigns in 2006 and 2007, Houston have slipped in status in recent years, only qualifying for the playoffs once in the last seven seasons.
Indeed, their 12th-placed finish in the Western Conference last season was their worst since being founded in 2005, with Tab Ramos perhaps fortunate to hold onto his job as head coach heading into this campaign.
It has been a mixed bag so far, securing a 2-1 win over San Jose Earthquakes on the opening day before falling to a 2-1 defeat to Portland Timbers last time out.
Ramos will be hoping for a more convincing performance from his players on Saturday, although that is unlikely to be easy against a dynamic Los Angeles outfit which resembles Houston in their early years in many ways.
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Indeed, having only joined the MLS in 2018, Los Angeles have reached the playoffs in each of their three seasons so far, finishing first in the Western Conference in 2019 before recording their best showing when losing in the semi-final that year.
Perhaps even more impressively, Bob Bradley's side finished as runners-up in the CONCACAF Champions League last season, dramatically losing 2-1 to Mexican side Tigres in the final after late strikes from Hugo Ayala and Andre-Pierre Gignac.
Los Angeles have began the domestic season in decent fashion so far, beating Austin FC 2-0 on the opening day before claiming a point from their 1-1 draw against Seattle Sounders.
Former United States national team boss Bradley will be demanding more from his side in the upcoming weeks, though, with Jose Cifuentes, Diego Rossi and former Arsenal winger Carlos Vela forming a fearsome frontline when fit and firing.
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Team News
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Ramos will hope to welcome Sam Junqua and Ethan Bartlow back to his matchday squad after both players suffered from concussion earlier in April.
Christian Ramirez, who earned two caps and scored one goal for the United States national team in 2019, may receive a start in attack having only been used from the bench in the first two matches of the season.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, are fearing they may have to travel to Houston without captain Vela after he was substituted against Austin due to a hamstring injury, with Cifuentes likely to replace him in the starting XI.
Rossi may also miss out once more for the same reason, with Erik Duenas, Mohamed Traore and Danny Musovski all injury doubts, too.
Right-back Tristan Blackmon is quarantining and therefore unavailable for selection, with Jordan Harvey and Marco Farfan potentially having to cover him on their unfavoured side of the pitch.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Maric; Valentin, Parker, Garcia, Lundqvist; Vera, Corona; Picault, Rodriguez, Pasher; Ramirez
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Sisniega; Harvey, Murillo, Segura, Palacios; Blessing, Atuesta, Kaye; Cifuentes, Musovski, Baird
We say: Houston Dynamo 1-1 Los Angeles FC
Ordinarily we would make the visitors favourites here, but given their injury issues, Houston may feel confident of gaining a positive result.
Vela, who is one of the most talented players in MLS, will undoubtedly be a huge miss to Los Angeles if his hamstring injury keeps him out as expected.
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 Los Angeles FC win with a probability of 38.8%. A win for Houston Dynamo had a probability of 37.52% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Los Angeles FC win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.45%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (6.87%) and 0-2 (5.44%). The likeliest Houston Dynamo win was 2-1 (8.3%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.67%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 10.7% likelihood.
