Rose City Forecast Three: Timbers vs Houston

Welcome to the third round of forecasting the Timbers’ match!

If you missed it last week, PTFC took the lead in the 8th minute off a gorgeous counter attack finished by Chara. Just because there were no more goals scored does not mean the match was boring, however. There was dive-gate (resulting in two yellows to Van Damme - Goodbye!), and there was Nagbe with his once biannual yellow card. And his was the first of the match, so none of you got points on that. Who could’ve predicted? In the end, the Timbers started 2-0-0 for the first time ever in MLS, and got a road win in March. Great accomplishments for the start of the season.

richard.hamje had the accurate prediction of the week, calling the 1-0 scoreline, the JVD red and over on total cards. Put-Me-In-Coach had the most recommended post for attempted honesty regarding points and making fun of Cheeto’s hands in the process. Lots of big-handed thumbs up there. This will stand despite the fact that I had the correct point calculation, and so the honesty wasn’t actually required! However, just because I got the points right last week doesn’t mean I did this week. So as we go to the standings, let me know if I messed up!

Looking to continue winning, the Timbers return home this Saturday to face the Houston Dynamo, who are off to a six-point start like the Timbers. The difference? They haven’t played a game on the road. With Ridgewell out, and Vytas and Guzman questionable, can the Timbers’ defense hold firm against Houston’s suddenly prolific attacking front? Can they protect Providence Park? Give me your predictions!

Over/under: 3.5 total cards

The Scoring Format:

• Correct score: 5 points
• Correct result (draw/win/loss): 3 points
• Each clean sheet: 2 points
• Each goal-scorer: 1 point
• Each assist/lack of assist/PK/FK: 1 point
• Goal/assist bonus: 1 point
• Player with the first yellow card of the match: 1 point
• Player with a red card: 1 point (Cannot earn points for predicting 0 red cards)
• Over/under on total cards: 1 point
• Most recommended/most outrageously accurate prediction: 2 points

Some ground rules and explanations/clarifications:

You may amend your prediction at any point up to kick off to account for game day 18 announcements. Though I recommend at least getting an initial prediction sooner, just in case you forget to come back in that hour or two before the game.

Keep your scoreline predictions realistic. Basically, if you’re predicting lots of goals all the time to just earn points on goals and assists and ignoring the score, I feel that goes against the spirit of this thread. This hasn’t been at all a problem in the last two years, so let’s keep it that way!

The goal/assist bonus is an additional point if you correctly get the correct scorer and assistant on the same goal. (e.g., if Nagbe scores, assisted by Valeri, and you predicted that exact combination you get a total of three points - 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 bonus. However, if you predicted Nagbe scores assisted by Adi and Adi scores assisted by Valeri, you would get two points from the Nagbe/Valeri prediction - 1 goal, 1 assist)

Even though a player can be awarded a secondary assist, I will award a maximum of one assist point per goal. But that point can come from either the primary or secondary assist.

To make it clear to me, if you want a goal to go unassisted, please mark that. In terms of correct points, unassisted is an unassisted goal from play, and a FK/PK assist count the same, but unassisted and FK/PK are NOT the same.

For the over/under on cards, a second yellow leading to a red counts as two cards, not three.

Most weeks, I will reward the most recommended prediction with the 2 points. However, if someone predicts that Caleb will bring a towel to dry off Seattle’s field, and he does, they’ll probably get those two points, regardless of whether they got the recs. We’ll also be testing this out, because I want to be careful that this doesn’t end up favoring the first few people to post their prediction. As I see it, the goal here is to add even more fun without going too over-the-top ridiculous.

If you’re looking for where I set the over/under on total cards, check the end of the preview paragraph.

Format:

In the comment title, post your predicted score with the winners, eg: 4-2 Timbers

In the body of your comment, start with the goals and assists, like so:

Nagbe (Valeri)

Valeri (Free kick)

Adi (PK)

Blanco (Unassisted)

Beckham (Free kick)

Donovan (Beckham)

Next, choose your first yellow card, and that means picking only one person.

First yellow to Nigel De Jong

Then reds, if any. (NOTE: no points awarded for correctly calling a red-card-free match, so take a guess.)

Nigel De Jong gets a red card for stomping Blanco.

Clearly note whether you’re predicting over or under on total cards. Don’t leave me to try and figure it out!

And lastly, make your fun prediction.

Nigel de Jong tries to stomp Nagbe’s ankle again, but this time, Nagbe avoids the tackle. Being angry Nagbe for the first time in three years, he kicks the ball straight into NDJ’s groin. Camera pans to a trademark Chara smile.

As always, any questions about anything?