Two sides aiming to strengthen their positions in the Major League Soccer Western Conference spots will do battle on Saturday, as Portland Timbers welcome Minnesota United to Providence Park.
The visitors have dropped to fifth spot owing to three consecutive defeats, now only two points ahead of their hosts, who have climbed into the top seven with a six-match unbeaten streak.
Match preview
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Portland Timbers head into the weekend in fine form in their MLS Western Conference Playoff bid, having climbed into the top seven in recent weeks after falling short in each of the previous two seasons.
After a dismal run between mid-March and mid-May, in which they collected just six points from an 11-match span including a nine-game winless streak, Phil Neville's side sat in a disappointing position in their Conference with just 13 points on the board from 14 outings, but they appear to have turned a corner since, now finding themselves in the midst of an impressive unbeaten streak.
Indeed, the Timbers have now added 14 more points to that tally in six further attempts, firstly bouncing back with consecutive victories over Sporting Kansas City and Austin FC last month, before taking points from draws with Houston Dynamo and St Louis City.
Then following another 2-1 triumph away at San Jose Earthquakes, thanks to goals from Evander and Jonathan Rodriguez, Neville's men most recently hosted Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, trailing their visitors by a single point ahead of the game, and they continued the fine run and leapfrogged the Canadian outfit with another three-point haul as Rodriguez and Felipe Mora fired them to a 2-0 triumph with first-half goals.
Thanks to that result and their six-game unbeaten streak, Portland Timbers now find themselves sixth in the Western Conference, two points behind Saturday's visitors and ahead of the wildcard spots on goal difference, and they will now look to move up another spot with a third straight win at the weekend.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, will bid to extend that gap between the two teams on Saturday, having seen their playoff position worsen with a contrasting run to that of the Timbers in recent weeks.
After also missing out on the playoffs last year, Minnesota United enjoyed a fine start to the 2024 campaign, establishing themselves as Western Conference frontrunners by earning 24 points from their first 12 outings, winning seven of those while only suffering two defeats.
Their form has taken a sharp dip since mid-May, though, with Eric Ramsay's side having only put one more win and five points on the board in their last seven attempts, with the solitary triumph coming at home to Sporting Kansas City at the beginning of June before playing out a 1-1 draw with Dallas and suffering three straight defeats heading into the weekend.
That began with a 2-0 loss away at Seattle Sounders and a 5-3 beating in another meeting with Dallas, with Will Trapp's injury-time goal nothing more than a consolation, before they most recently hosted Austin FC on Sunday and again came away empty-handed with Diego Rubio netting the only goal of the game in the 31st minute after Loons midfielder Hassani Dotson was sent off for a second bookable offence.
While they remain in the top seven thanks to their impressive opening run this term, Minnesota United now sit fifth with just a two-point lead over the wildcard spots and a four-point lead over 10th place, and they will be desperate to end their slide with an important return to winning ways in their trip to Oregon.
Team News
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Portland Timbers will remain without defender Miguel Araujo, who is away on international duty at the Copa America with Canada, while Marvin Loria is sidelined by a long-term injury.
Phil Neville may opt to deploy the same starting XI from last weekend's 2-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps, with Felipe Mora bound to again lead the line having netted his ninth MLS goal of the season in that game, while Jonathan Rodriguez is another danger man on the wing having taken his own tally to eight for the campaign with goals in back-to-back games.
Diego Chara and David Ayala will again line up at the base of the midfield in their 4-2-3-1 setup, while Dario Zuparic and Zac McGraw will continue their partnership in the middle of the back four after seeing out a clean sheet on Sunday.
Minnesota United have several enforced absences of their own, with midfielder Hassani Dotson suspended after his red card early in their defeat to Austin last time out, while Hugo Bacharach remains sidelined by an injury and key attacker and top scorer Tani Oluwaseyi is away on international duty with Canada.
Without the latter, and with Teemu Pukki also contending with an injury, Bongokuhle Hlongwane should continue to lead their line in a 3-4-3 setup with wide support from Robin Lod and Jeong Sang-bin.
In Dotson's place, Caden Clark should come in to join Will Trapp in the engine room, while Eric Ramsay should field an unaltered back three of Kervin Arriaga, Michael Boxall and Miguel Tapias.
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Panteris; Mosquera, McGraw, Zuparic, Bravo; Chara, Ayala; Moreno, Evander, Rodriguez; Mora
Minnesota United possible starting lineup:
Irwin; Arriaga, Boxall, Tapias; Taylor, Trapp, Clark, Rosales; Lod, Hlongwane, Jeong
We say: Portland Timbers 2-0 Minnesota United
While Minnesota United still sit above their hosts in the Conference standings, the two sides' momentum has shifted with the Timbers gaining confidence and the visitors' struggling form.
Having lost some of their confidence without Oluwaseyi's goals, we see the Loons succumbing to a quickly improving Portland Timbers team in Oregon.
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Sam Varley
