The Seattle Sounders are visiting the Portland Timbers on Saturday in their second of three meetings of the regular season. Here is everything you need to know:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. PT at Providence Park in Portland, Ore.
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available to watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
WHERE TO LISTEN: The match will air on 950 KJR AM and in Spanish on El Rey 1360AM.
2024 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders: 11-8-7 (40 points, 5th West), Timbers: 10-9-7 (37 points, 7thWest)
FORM GUIDE (all competitions, most recent first): Seattle: LWLWW, Portland: DLWWL
PREVIOUS MEETING: The Sounders went into Providence Park on May 12 and left 2-1 winners behind goals from Cristian Roldan and Raúl RuidÃaz. Felipe Mora scored for the hosts.
QUICK TURNAROUND: Seattle will need to recover and refocus quickly after falling to LAFC 1-0 on Wednesday in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals. Head Coach Brian Schmetzer employed a near-first choice lineup midweek.
HUGE SIX-POINTER: The Western Conference table is very tight and this Cascadia clash could have major implications for playoff seeding come October. Seattle is just three points ahead of Portland and two points back from a guaranteed home game in the postseason. The Timbers, meanwhile, enter this weekend tied on points with the Houston Dynamo and occupy the very last seed without a play-in match.
KEY ABSENCES: The Timbers will be without two of their main attacking weapons this weekend in Mora and Jonathan RodrÃguez, each of whom is suspended. Mora (13G/5A) was sent off in Portland’s 4-4 draw last weekend against St. Louis CITY SC, while RodrÃguez (13G/6A) was cautioned and will miss Saturday’s contest due to yellow card accumulation.
LIVE BY THE GOAL, DIE BY THE GOAL: Even without the services of Mora and RodrÃguez, the Timbers are still one of the best goalscoring teams in MLS. Their 54 goals are first in the Western Conference and trail only Inter Miami in the league. Defensively, though, they’ve conceded 46 times, fourth-worst in the West and eighth-worst in MLS.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Evander, M
The third member of Portland’s prolific attacking trio is Evander, who is playing at an MLS Best XI level this season. The Brazilian has 12 goals and 15 assists, which is second in the league. He also scored a dramatic free kick equalizer last weekend against St. Louis.
