Vancouver Whitecaps play host to Colorado Rapids on Sunday night having claimed four points from their opening two MLS matches of the season.
While the home side sit in fourth position in the Western Conference, the Rapids are in 11th spot after failing to win either of their opening fixtures.
Match preview
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Despite another year spent in the bottom half of the MLS standings, the Whitecaps fanbase will be hopeful of a much-improved campaign this time around.
Having started the campaign with an excellent 1-0 win over Portland Timbers, they battled their way to a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC last weekend.
Head coach Marc dos Santos was naturally disappointed with conceding an 82nd-minute equaliser, but the result represented another step in the right direction.
Left-back Cristian Gutierrez has proven to be the star man during the opening two weeks, contributing assists in both games having only created one goal throughout the last campaign.
While the Whitecaps are seemingly on an upward trajectory, the same cannot be said of the Rapids who have begun the season on the back foot.
A goalless draw at Dallas was followed by a shock 3-1 defeat at the hands of Austin FC, who recorded their first-ever MLS win in the process.
Although Robin Fraser will not be too concerned at this stage, he will recognise that the Rapids can ill-afford another setback if they want to remain in close proximity to the early pacesetters.
Fraser has named identical starting lineups and used just 14 players thus far, something which will likely change for the game at BC Place.
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Team News
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Jonathan Lewis, Nicolas Mezquida and Nicolas Benezet are all pushing for opportunities in the Rapids starting lineup.
Despite making progress in their recovery from injury, Lalas Abubakar and Sam Vines are both likely to remain out of contention.
Dos Santos is expected to stick with the majority of the Whitecaps side which impressed against Toronto.
One alteration could come in midfield with Caio Alexandre potentially taking the place of Janio Bikel.
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; Nerwinski, Rose, Veselinovic, Gutierrez; Alexandre, Teibert, Baldisimo; Dajome, Cavallini, Caicedo
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Yarbrough; Rosenberry, Wilson, Trusty, Acosta; Bassett, Namli, Price; Shinyashiki, Rubio, Lewis
We say: Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 Colorado Rapids
On the back of a home defeat to newcomers Austin, Rapids desperately require a positive response. However, the Whitecaps looked solid during their opening double-header, and we expect more of the same at the weekend.
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 Colorado Rapids win with a probability of 46.52%. A win for Vancouver Whitecaps had a probability of 28.67% and a draw had a probability of 24.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Colorado Rapids win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.83%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.32%) and 0-2 (7.81%). The likeliest Vancouver Whitecaps win was 1-0 (7.39%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.73%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 9.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Colorado Rapids in this match.
