Portland Hearts of Pine vs Westchester SC Prediction

Right then, let's have a proper look at this USL League One clash between Portland Hearts of Pine and the league's basement boys Westchester SC. The gulf in class here is massive - Portland are sitting pretty in 6th with 40 points, while Westchester are propping up the table with a measly 23 points. That's a proper chasm, my friends.

Now, Portland's recent form has gone a bit wobbly, I'll give you that. They've lost three of their last four, including a 3-1 thumping at One Knoxville and a 1-3 home defeat to Forward Madison. But before that little blip, they were banging them in for fun - remember that 5-2 hammering of Richmond and the 3-2 win at Greenville? They know where the net is, averaging two goals a game over their last ten.

Westchester, bless 'em, are struggling big time. They've managed just two wins in their last ten, though I'll give them credit for that 2-0 win over Napoli - decent result that. But away from home? Absolutely shocking. Zero wins in their last four away trips, scoring just one goal per game on their travels while shipping two.

The only time these two met was back in August, and Portland nicked it 3-2 away from home. That tells you everything you need to know about the quality gap here.

Portland are decent at home too - 60% win rate on their own patch. Westchester's away form is frankly woeful - 0% win rate. The maths don't lie, folks.

Both teams tend to score in Portland's games (70% of the time), and Westchester aren't completely toothless (60% BTTS rate). But with Portland averaging 1.8 expected goals at home and Westchester only managing 1.1 away, you can see where this is heading.

The odds of 1.80 for a home win look about right to me. Portland should have too much quality for a side that's already looking forward to next season.