Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Major League Soccer clash between Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
In-form sides Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake will do battle at Providence Park on Sunday in the latest round of Major League Soccer matches.
Both teams head into this weekend’s contest off the back of emphatic victories last time out and will be looking to push on from where they left off.
Match preview
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Portland Timbers put on a stellar display as they made light work of Nashville SC courtesy of a comprehensive 4-1 victory in Monday’s encounter.
Felipe Mora‘s 18th-minute opener was quickly followed by a Jonathan Rodriguez double and Eryk Williamson‘s strike to leave Phil Neville‘s men in cruise control at half time after which Sam Surridge pulled one back eight minutes from time.
Consequently, The Timbers have leapfrogged Vancouver Whitecaps into fifth place in the Western Conference of the MLS table, four points adrift of the top four.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of taking on an opposing outfit who have only been beaten in one of the last five editions of this fixture.
However, that solitary loss did come in the most recent meeting last August when Sunday’s hosts claimed a hard-fought 2-1 triumph.
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Real Salt Lake had far too much quality on show for Atlanta United in Sunday’s meeting at the America First Field which ended in a 5-2 rout.
Matt Crooks broke the deadlock for Pablo Mastroeni‘s men within seconds of the kickoff before Saba Lobjanidze struck just past the half-hour mark to cancel out the advantage which was emphatically restored in the second half by Braian Ojeda, Cristian Arango, Alexandros Katranis and Diego Luna.
With 43 points picked up from 22 matches so far, the Claret and Cobalt sit second in the Western Conference standings, level on points with leaders Los Angeles FC who have played one game fewer.
Fresh from recently ending a five-game winless away run, Sunday’s visitors now go in search of consecutive victories on the road for the first time since April.
Portland Timbers Major League Soccer form:
Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer form:
Team News
Maxime Crepeau and Kamal Miller are still on international duty with Canada at the ongoing Copa America and will not play any part here.
Defensive duo Marvin Loria and Eric Miller also miss out for the home side as they continue to nurse respective leg injuries.
Jonathan Rodriguez will be looking to come up with the goods once again having netted five times in as many matches leading up to this one.
Kevin Bonilla and Pablo Ruiz are down with knee injuries, while Erik Holt and Marcelo Silva remain out of action through hamstring problems.
The away side will also take to the field without the services of Justen Glad who is set to sit out a sixth straight game due to a damaged ankle.
Following his strike last time out, Cristian Arango has now been directly involved in a league-high 28 goals, making him one to keep an eye on.
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Pantemis; Mosquera, Araujo, Zuparic, Bravo; Chara, Ayala; Moreno, Williamson, Rodriguez; Mora
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
Beavers; Quinton, Hidalgo, Ramirez, Katranis; Eneli, Ojeda; Gomez, Crooks, Luna; Arango
We say: Portland Timbers 2-2 Real Salt Lake
Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake are two of the highest-scoring teams in the MLS, so an entertaining affair is on the cards here.
However, we can see the teams matching each other over the course of the 90 minutes to settle for a point apiece in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.