The Portland Timbers return to the field and the thick of the MLS playoff race on tonight at 8 pm on Univision as they take on the Houston Dynamo. This is the second consecutive and final home match Portland has on a Friday night. The Timbers won the last one narrowly over Chicago.

Last Saturday, the Timbers went to Real Salt Lake and got a memorable, emotional 1-0 win thanks to a last-gasp goal from Nat Borchers. From here on in, all games are important—but the stakes for this match are clear. With a win, Portland could all but assure themselves a playoff spot and push on towards a hugely valuable top-two seed in the Western Conference.

The History

This is the rubber match between the Timbers and Dynamo this season. The first two meetings were polar opposites of each other—Houston thrashed the Timbers at home in May, winning 3-1, while Portland had a glorified walkover of a Dynamo side weakened by injuries and internationals 2-0 in June.

That June game, in which Gaston Fernandez scored his last Timbers goal, came in the middle of Portland's best run of the season—a run which the Timbers are hoping to eclipse now. A victory over Houston would mark three straight wins for the Timbers, who haven't lost at home since April.

Despite being in different conferences for the last three seasons, Portland has plenty of history with the Dynamo. It was Houston who knocked the Timbers out of the playoff race in 2011 at Jeld-Wen Field, and Houston, who the Timbers beat 2-0 to clinch Caleb Porter's first MLS win.

The man in the middle for that 2013 match was Ricardo Salazar, and Salazar will be the referee again on Friday night—with the same fourth official, no less.

The Tactics

Portland's back six is more settled now than at any point in the team's MLS history, and the Timbers still haven't lost a game in which both Will Johnson and Diego Chara play.

The questions tactically for Caleb Porter revolve, as they most often have this season, around how Portland will set up and who the personnel will be up top. Fanendo Adi is back in action after missing last week with a knock, and he should slot back in up top. The question is whether Lucas Melano, who was underwhelming in Adi's place in Salt Lake, will retain his place in the team—either on the wing or next to Adi in a 4-4-2 look.

Rodney Wallace is again in line to be the casualty of a Melano-Adi look, but with Porter still trying to build up his new DP's confidence, fitness, and chemistry, there's no guarantee that he'll lose his place this week. Portland still needs more from Darlington Nagbe, and it's worth watching Johnson—the Timbers captain had to be subbed off at Salt Lake due to soreness in the leg he broke last year, and this is a short week for Portland.

Houston, like the Timbers, is a relatively healthy side at this point in the season, with Ricardo Clark and Jermaine Taylor being the noticeable misses. It's the players Houston didn't have when they came to Portland in June—notably Brad Davis, Giles Barnes, and Cubo Torres—that should make this game more competitive.

Dynamo boss Owen Coyle has several different ways to shuffle his midfield and attack, but he'll need a big game in defense from former Timber David Horst, who conceded a penalty last time these two teams played.

The Lineup

12 - Kwarasey
2 - Powell
24 - Ridgewell
7 - Borchers
19 - Villafaña
4 - W. Johnson (C)
21 - Chara
22 - Wallace
8 - Valeri
6 - Nagbe
9 - Adi

The Pick

This should be a competitive match, but it sets up well. The Timbers are good at home, and good in close games. 1-0 Portland.