The Houston Dynamo are excited to see Ibrahim Aliyu "thrive" after bringing him back to the club from the Columbus Crew, and he may have the chance to do so against the Portland Timbers.

Aliyu played for the Dynamo between April 2023 and April 2025 before he was acquired by the Columbus Crew, but after getting three goals and three assists in 28 appearances in all competitions last season, he has not featured in 2026.

He has now returned to Houston, who followed up an opening-weekend win over the Chicago Fire with a 2-0 loss to Los Angeles FC last time out.

Aiming to bounce back from that defeat, Dynamo are looking forward to seeing how Aliyu fits back in with the team.

"We are pleased to welcome Aliyu Ibrahim back to Houston, where he played an important role during two successful seasons with our club," said president of soccer, Pat Onstad.

"As we continue evolving our system this season, we are looking to add depth to our wingback group, and Aliyu has the qualities to thrive in that role.

"His ability to cover ground, attack space and contribute on both sides of the ball fits well with the expectations of our wide players. We look forward to welcoming him and his family back to the city of Houston."

Portland, meanwhile, sit level on points but one place below the 12th-placed Dynamo in the Western Conference.

After beating the Crew in their opener, they have since suffered back-to-back losses to the Colorado Rapids and the Vancouver Whitecaps, with the latter defeat in particular frustrating head coach Phil Neville.

"To win a game of football against the best teams, you need the players to show hunger," he said of the performance against the Whitecaps.

"I thought some of our players played like little boys, and they really did. And these are experienced players that have been with us. They played with too much fear, but you need to show courage against better teams."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Houston Dynamo – Jack McGlynn

Houston held just 29.2% possession against Los Angeles FC on February 28 in a match in which they had two players sent off. 

Jack McGlynn did his best to help them do something despite barely seeing the ball, playing 58 passes (the most of any Dynamo player), while boasting a 93.3% passing accuracy.

Portland Timbers – Eric Izoita

Eric Izoita scored Portland's lone goal on his MLS debut on Saturday. At 18 years and 180 days old, Izoita became the youngest goalscorer in a regular-season match in club history.

It was the third goal scored by a teenager for Portland in regular-season play after Tega Ikoba in 2023 and Andrew Jean-Baptiste in 2012.

MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN

Houston have won four of their last six matches against Portland (D1 L1), including a 1-0 win in the last meeting between the sides last September.

The Dynamo had recorded just six wins in their first 24 all-time meetings with the Timbers in all competitions (D8 L10) before winning four of the last six.

However, Houston have won only two of their last 11 home matches in all competitions dating back to last July (D2 L7), though one of the two wins came against the Timbers.

Portland have lost two of their first three matches of a season for the seventh time in club history. The Timbers rallied to make the playoffs in four of the previous six seasons in which they lost two of their first three, including doing so last year.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Houston Dynamo – 43.3%

Draw – 26.7%

Portland Timbers – 29.9%