Another chapter in the Cascadia Cup rivalry takes centre stage at Providence Park this weekend when the Portland Timbers host the Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS action on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Timbers moved up to seventh in the Western Conference with a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes, putting them a point behind the Caps for sixth, with the latter suffering a 3-2 defeat versus the New England Revolution last weekend.
Match preview
Another strong second half extended the Timbers' MLS unbeaten run to five matches, their longest stretch without a defeat all season.
Their recent form has put them back into a playoff position, though they are only two points above that post-season line in the Western Conference.
Phil Neville's men have lived and died by their aggressive, up-tempo style throughout the campaign, scoring the third-most goals in the Western Conference (34) and conceding the third-most (33).
After going winless in four of their first five MLS encounters at Providence Park this year, the Timbers are on a three-match domestic unbeaten run on home soil.
So far in 2024, they have dropped 12 points domestically when scoring the opening goal but have also claimed eight points after conceding the opener.
Portland have lost their last two meetings with Vancouver by a 3-2 score, and another loss this weekend would mark the first time they will have suffered three consecutive defeats against them at Providence Park in MLS play.
A poor first half in New England was ultimately too much for the Whitecaps to overcome last Saturday, as their two-match MLS winning run ended.
Vanni Sartini's men have been competitive all year but are still struggling to find the consistency of the elite MLS teams, with their longest domestic winning and losing run this season being two games.
Throughout the 2024 league season, the Whitecaps have not fared well when coming from behind, claiming just one point in MLS when trailing at the interval (1-1 draw versus the Seattle Sounders).
At the midway point of their league campaign, the Caps are fifth in the Western Conference, four points behind Minnesota United for a top-four place.
A win on Saturday would give them five away from home over this domestic campaign, surpassing their total from last season (four), and giving them 17 points on the road, one fewer than they managed to earn during the 2023 regular season.
They have not lost to a Cascadia rival all season, beating the Timbers at home earlier this year (3-2) while also earning a win (2-0) and a draw (1-1) against the Seattle Sounders.
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Team News
Marvin Loria missed another Portland encounter in midweek as the Costa Rican midfielder continues to recover from his knee surgery.
The Timbers will be without Maxime Crepeau and Kamal Miller, who are with the Canadian national team at the Copa America, and they will be facing their club teammate Miguel Araujo, who is representing Peru.
Jonathan Rodriguez and Evander scored their goals earlier this week, the seventh and eighth, respectively, for both players, helping the Timbers to a narrow victory on matchday 19.
Sam Adekugbe is close to returning from a calf injury, which has kept him out of the Whitecaps lineup for most of the campaign.
Vancouver will be without Ali Ahmed, who was called up to the Canadian national team for the Copa America, while Andres Cubas will represent Paraguay during that competition.
A brace from Ryan Gauld kept the Caps' match with New England close as the Scottish attacker leads the team with nine goals in MLS this season.
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Pantemis; Mosquera, McGraw, Zuparic, Bravo; Williamson, Evander; Antony, Moreno, Paredes; Rodriguez
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Blackmon, Veselinovic, Utvik; Brown, Vite, Berhalter, Martins; Gauld; White, Kreilach
We say: Portland Timbers 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
The Caps have not proven they can consistently win in MLS, and without a key ball winner in Cubas, they will have a tough time contending with an aggressive Timbers side that possesses plenty of attacking depth.
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