We said: Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 Real Salt Lake
Adding a quality goalkeeper like Takaoka should allow the Caps to be a little more aggressive and take chances going forward, while the man between the sticks has shown he can make big stops when needed, something sorely missing for Vancouver last season.
RSL have a solid collective group, but staying with an up-tempo team like the Caps on that artificial turf could force them to chase the game and leave their defence exposed in transition.
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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 Vancouver Whitecaps win with a probability of 42.22%. A win for Real Salt Lake had a probability of 31.82% and a draw had a probability of 26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Vancouver Whitecaps win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.84%) and 2-0 (7.31%). The likeliest Real Salt Lake win was 0-1 (8.62%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.34%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood.