Portland Timbers vs. Houston Dynamo Match Thread [7:30 pm]

The Portland Timbers look to take on the Houston Dynamo tonight, a team that they have yet to beat in their three matches over 2011 and 2012. Normally that would be cause for concern, but considering just a single one of those games came at home, I'm inclined to believe that it's not so much a trend as it is unfortunate scheduling.

For their part, however, the Dynamo are a solid team having made it to MLS Cup twice in a row. There's no doubt that the Timbers will be facing a formidable opponent tonight.

General Information

Watch it on: ROOT SPORTS

Kick off: 7:30 pm at Jeld-Wen Field

Houston Dynamo: 9 point in the EasternConference

Portland Timbers: 3 points in the Western Conference

Starting Line Ups

Portland Timbers: Donovan Ricketts; Jack Jewsbury, David Horst, Mikael Silvestre, Michael Harrington; Diego Chara, Diego Valeri, Will Johnson (C); Darlington Nagbe, Ryan Johnson, Rodney Wallace

Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall; Jermaine Taylor, Bobby Boswell, Corey Ashe, Kofi Sarkodie; Brad Davis, Adam Moffat, Andrew Driver, Ricardo Clark; Giles Barnes, Cam Weaver

Final Thoughts

Three points won't be enough to seriously lift the Timbers out of the current position they're in, but it would certainly help. Currently, if the Timbers win tonight and the Vancouver Whitecaps lose, the two will be tied with 6 points and with the Timbers currently having the most "Goals For" of the two, they would be on top. However, a Whitecaps loss would only benefit the San Jose Earthquakes which wouldn't be good for the Timbers either. Kind of a sticky situation the Timbers have gotten themselves in.

Luckily, it's still early in the season. A win tonight might not help them get very far out of their current position, but they've got a long time left to build toward the playoffs.