Houston Dynamo play host to Portland Timbers at the PNC Stadium on Saturday aiming to pick up a third consecutive victory.
Meanwhile, the away side also come into the clash with the wind in their sails having ended a three-game winless run last time out.
Match preview
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Houston Dynamo showed great resolve to come out on top in a 4-3 thriller against San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
Goals from Darwin Quintero and Teenage Hadebe sandwiched in between a Sebastian Ferreira brace secured all three points for Paulo Nagamura's men.
With 10 points from their last four games, El Naranja have now moved up to sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
Their next task comes against an opposing side yet to lose any of the last six meetings between the teams dating back to 2019.
However, Saturday's hosts are unbeaten in their four home matches so far and will back themselves to end their barren run against this weekend's visitors.
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Portland Timbers saw off the threat of Vancouver Whitecaps in a pulsating 3-2 victory at BC Place on Sunday.
Dairon Asprilla and Jaroslaw Niezgoda handed Giovanni Savarese's men a two-goal lead, before Cristian Dajome halved the deficit 14 minutes from time.
Yimmi Chara restored the full complement of his side's advantage shortly afterward, but Ryan Gauld had the final say as he netted a stoppage-time penalty.
The Timbers sit eighth in the Western Conference as it stands, one point adrift of Nashville SC, who currently occupy the last playoff spot.
Saturday's hosts have shipped the third-most away goals so far and still await their first clean sheet on the road this term.
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Team News
Twenty-eight-year-old Felipe Mora is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines having recently undergone knee surgery.
Forward Tega Ikoba remains ruled out with an abdominal problem and will not feature for this weekend's visitors.
Pablo Bonilla was suspended for the defeat to Vancouver last time out, but he is now eligible to feature once again.
Houston's Nico Lemoine continues to nurse a long-term groin injury which has seen him play just once since the beginning of last year.
Darwin Quintero has scored four goals in his last four outings and the Colombian is certainly one to keep an eye on.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Lundqvist, Hadebe, Bartlow, Dorsey; Quintero, Vera, Carrasquilla; Picault, Pasher, Ferreira
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Bravo, Tuiloma, Mabiala, Van Rankin; Loria, Paredes, Chara, Asprilla; Niezgoda, Chara
We say: Houston Dynamo 1-1 Portland Timbers
Houston come into the game on a high as they seek a fourth win in five matches. However, their record in this fixture does not make for good reading, so we are backing a share of the spoils with honours even at the sound of the final whistle.
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 47.76%. A win for Portland Timbers had a probability of 26.65% and a draw had a probability of 25.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Houston Dynamo win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.34%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.29%) and 2-0 (8.66%). The likeliest Portland Timbers win was 0-1 (7.97%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.16%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 7.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
