We said: Houston Dynamo 1-1 Sporting Kansas City
While Houston got the better of Kansas in that huge encounter in the playoffs last season, a more reserved encounter could be in store with much less riding on proceedings.
Both sides will want a positive start to get their campaign underway though, but the hosts need to prove they can cope with life after Baird following a defeat in continental action in midweek.
Read more.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 Houston Dynamo win with a probability of 56.23%. A draw had a probability of 22.7% and a win for Sporting Kansas City had a probability of 21.11%.
The most likely scoreline for a Houston Dynamo win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.27%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.89%) and 2-0 (9.49%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.7%), while for a Sporting Kansas City win it was 0-1 (5.79%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 10.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-1 draw for this match.