Portland Timbers will look to bounce back from their opening Major League Soccer defeat on Sunday when they host Houston Dynamo.
The home side suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps in their first league game, while Houston got off to a winning start with a 2-1 home victory over San Jose Earthquakes.
Match preview
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Portland Timbers started their MLS campaign with a disappointing defeat last time out, as they lost 1-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps in Utah.
In a quiet match, Lucas Cavallini netted the only goal soon after half time to take home all three points for the Blue-and-White.
However, they enjoyed an important win before that, as they progressed through the CONCACAF Champions League round of 16 with a 7-2 aggregate victory over Honduran outfit CD Marathon.
The Timbers took home a 2-2 draw from the first leg in Honduras, before they recorded a dominant victory in the home leg, with Yimmi Chara netting a hat-trick alongside goals from Diego Valeri and Marvin Loria.
While they return to continental action on Thursday in the quarter-final, Giovanni Savarese's side will be focussed on Sunday's MLS game, as they look to put their first win on the board.
Their opponents recorded their first victory of the season on the opening day, defeating San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 in Houston.
Memo Rodriguez and Maximiliano Urruti gave El Naranja a 2-0 lead, and they were able to hold on for a victory despite Paul Marie's goal for the visitors with 15 minutes to go.
Tab Ramos's side will be hoping to improve on last season's poor domestic campaign, as they finished bottom of the MLS Western Conference with 21 points from 23 games.
That opening win has definitely set the Texan outfit up in the correct way for this season, and they will look to build on that on Sunday, with the hope of kicking the season off with back-to-back victories.
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Team News
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Portland Timbers will be without defender Ismaila Jome, after he suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury in training on Monday following the defeat to Vancouver at the weekend.
Felipe Mora will lead the line following his permanent switch from UNAM Pumas in January.
He will be supported by the attacking threat of Yimmi Chara, who netted a hat-trick in the second-leg victory over Marathon.
Midfielder Diego Chara played in the game against Vancouver, meaning he has now featured in 11 consecutive MLS seasons for the Timbers.
Houston Dynamo defenders Sam Junqua and Maynor Figueroa were both absent from the game against San Jose Earthquakes, and could miss out again at the weekend.
Maximiliano Urruti opened his account for the season in that game, and he will lead the line again on Sunday.
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Clark; Van Rankin, Mabiala, Zuparic, Bravo; Williamson, D. Chara; Y. Chara, Valeri, Asprilla; Mora
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Maric; Valentin, Parker, Garcia, Lundqvist; Vera, Rodriguez, Corona; Picault, Urruti, Pasher
We say: Portland Timbers 2-1 Houston Dynamo
Despite their contrasting starts to the season, we see the Timbers coming out of this game with a victory.
They will be hoping to hit a good run of form with their CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final looming, and they should build confidence with a win on Sunday.
Top tip
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 Portland Timbers win with a probability of 55.76%. A win for Houston Dynamo had a probability of 22.39% and a draw had a probability of 21.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Portland Timbers win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.83%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.61%) and 2-0 (8.43%). The likeliest Houston Dynamo win was 1-2 (5.86%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.04%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Portland Timbers in this match.
