Aiming to earn their first maximum points of the new league campaign, Houston Dynamo will welcome an unbeaten Portland Timbers side to Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night in MLS.
The Dynamo were dumped out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup by Columbus Crew in the week, whilst the Timbers have been afforded a full seven days to bask in their glory at New York City FC last time out.
Match preview
Travelling to Lower.com Field on Tuesday night looking to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg at Shell Energy Stadium, Houston Dynamo were up against it as they sought to fight their way into the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, and ultimately the visitors were knocked out.
Continuing on from his excellent MLS form at the beginning of this campaign, Colombian Cucho Hernandez doubled the Crew's advantage in the tie with a near-post finish in the first half, and despite right-back Griffin Dorsey holding his nerve from 12 yards out in the final moments, the Dynamo were unable to sneak into the last eight.
Last season's Western Conference finalists have endured a tricky start to the 2024 season, drawing on the opening day to Sporting Kansas City at Shell Energy Stadium before suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of New York Red Bulls, despite Houston taking the lead through Ibrahim Aliyu.
Taking up a new berth on the left wing, 22-year-old Aliyu is enjoying a productive beginning to the term despite his side's struggles overall, with the Nigerian scoring once and providing one assist in two MLS appearances, whilst also striking up a positive connection with the likes of Gabriel Segal and Sebastian Kowalczyk.
Houston's failure to win any of their first two matches at their Texas base this season is contradictory to their sensational home form in 2023, when Ben Olsen's charges won 11 and collected 37 points from 17 regular term games at Shell Energy Stadium, meaning that they boasted the best home record in the Western Conference.
After failing to guide Lionel Messi and Inter Miami to the MLS post-season in 2023, Phil Neville has relished in an unbeaten start to life as Portland Timbers manager, although it appeared as if the Englishman was heading towards his maiden loss in charge of the club last time out.
Following a lacklustre first-half display in the Bronx, Timbers found themselves one goal down because of a Santiago Rodriguez strike, but the visitors produced an excellent comeback in the second period, with goals from Brazilian duo Antony and Evander Ferreira sealing three points.
Now facing back-to-back away outings in MLS, the Timbers will be desperately looking to avoid a repeat of last year's visit to Shell Energy Stadium in late August, when goals from the likes of Amine Bassi and Corey Baird helped Houston to a five-goal thrashing, handing Portland's top-nine hopes a serious dent.
Neville's side were very active in the free agent market ahead of the 2024 campaign, bringing in goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau and Eric Miller, with the former recently being announced as part of the Canada squad who will face Trinidad and Tobago in the CONCACAF Nations League next week.
Becoming increasingly aware of the American game, Timbers manager Neville used his Florida-based connections to secure the services of centre-back Kamal Miller for the current term, with the 26-year-old defender playing 35 matches across all competitions for Inter Miami in 2023.
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Team News
Houston have missed the presence of captain Hector Herrera in their engine room during the opening stages of the MLS term, with the 33-year-old expected back from a knee injury next month.
Another key man currently occupying a place in the Dynamo's medical bay is Carlos Ferreira, who suffered a hamstring issue in the CONCACAF Champions Cup contest with St Louis City in February.
Youngster Nelson Quinones remains sidelined due to a knee injury, meaning that Aliyu and Adalberto Carrasquilla are set to keep their places on the flanks.
Sustaining a knee injury in October following a match against Houston, Portland left-back Claudio Bravo will not be available for the trip to Shell Energy Stadium this weekend.
The same can be said for attacker Marvin Loria, with the 26-year-old last featuring for the Timbers all the way back in August due to a mixture of form and a knee problem.
Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:
Clark; Dorsey, Bartlow, Micael, Escobar; Gregus, Artur, Bassi; Carrasquilla, Aliyu, Kowalczyk
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; Mosquera, McGraw, K Miller, E Miller; Paredes, Chara, Moreno, Ferreira, Antony; Asprilla
We say: Houston Dynamo 2-1 Portland Timbers
Despite failing to pick up a victory so far this season, Houston have been competitive in each fixture, and we feel that a maiden success for the Dynamo is just around the corner.
Portland needed some last-minute heroics in the Bronx to secure three points last time out, but we feel that Neville's side will be unable to repeat the trick in Texas.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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