The Portland Timbers are scheduled to host the Chicago Fire on Friday at the Providence Park in Portland as the 2015 Major League Soccer regular season continues.

Head coach Caleb Porter's squad had been winless in their last four games as they fell to a 9-8-6 win-loss-tie record. Their most recent victory was a home game against lowly San Jose Earthquakes last July 6 and since then had suffered two losses and two draws.

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Curiously, the Timbers' previous game was also against the Earthquakes, who managed to put them on a goalless standoff at the Avaya Stadium, as per SkySports.

The Fire is simply on fire after completing a surprise 2-0 victory versus Western Conference second placers FC Dallas, via ESPN. Designated Players midfielder Shaun Maloney of Scotland and forward David Accam of Ghana provided the two goals to lift Frank Yallop's boys over the Toros.

However, the Men in Red will have a hard time repeating that against Portland, who are itching to get back on their winning ways and hold on to their playoff spot in the West.

The MLS official website noted that the Timbers had never lost in their five matches against the Fire all-time. 

The prediction is a 2-1 victory by Portland over Chicago. The Timbers are a much stronger team on paper and if not for the momentum of Chicago's upset win over Dallas last Sunday, they would have been blanked in this game.

Portland Timbers starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Larsen Kwarasey; Villafaña, Ridgewell, Borchers, Powell; Chara, Johnson; Wallace, Valeri, Nagbe; Adi

Chicago Fire starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): S. Johnson; Jones, Larentowicz, Gehrig, Palmer; Maloney, Polster, Cocis, Shipp; J. Johnson, Accam

TagsFootball, Football 2015, Major League Soccer, Major League Soccer 2015, MLS, MLS 2015, Portland Timbers, Chicago Fire