Portland Timbers vs. Vancouver Whitecaps | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Arielle Castillo

Portland Timbers FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2017 MLS Regular Season
Providence Park – Portland, Oregon
Saturday, April 22 – 4 pm ET
WATCH: CTV in Canada, MLS LIVE in US

Last week saw the first meeting in this year's edition of the Cascadia Cup, a decades-long, fiercely contested rivalry among the Seattle Sounders, the Portland Timbers, and the Vancouver Whitecaps. There are nine match-ups in the series this year, and the first edition, on April 14, saw the Whitecaps take down the reigning MLS Cup champ Sounders, 2-1. So despite the naysaying from some circles, it's definitely not time to discount Vancouver after all.

But the Timbers, meanwhile, return for another home match with an added vengeance -- last week, at the usually impervious Providence Park, they fell to Sporting Kansas City 1-0. But all will likely eventually be good for the Timbers, who were ready to regroup after that match. They're still sitting at both the top of the Western Conference and the league overall.

Fun fact, though: Portland have only won one of the last six regular season match-ups between the two teams (3L-2D), though they have only been outscored 11-8 over the six games.

Portland Timbers

You can look at last week's defeat by Kansas City as a temporary bump in the road, with the Timbers largely besting, or even steamrolling, opponents so far in 2017. That comes with a couple of exceptions. Besides the loss to Kansas City, they fell 3-2 to Columbus on Mar. 25, and drew 1-1 with New England on Apr. 2. For the most part, these dropped points came in the face with opponents boasting tough defense on the night.

For the most part, though, the Timbers' attack has proven lethal, over and over again. One need only to rattle off the names Diego Valeri and Fanendo Adi to strike fear into any backline's hearts. Both of them are currently among those tied for most goals in the league so far this season, with five each. Veteran defender Roy Miller, in his second stint in MLS, even notched his own debut league goal recently.

Suspended: Fanendo Adi (Disciplinary Committee decision)
Int’l Duty: NONE
Injury Report: OUT: D - Gbenka Arokoyo (Achilles tear), M - Ben Zemanski (adductor injury); QUESTIONABLE: D - Liam Ridgewell (foot injury)

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Jake Gleeson – Alvas Powell, Lawrence Olum, Roy Miller, Marco Farfan – Diego Chara, David Guzman – Sebastian Blanco, Diego Valeri, Darlington Nagbe – Darren Mattocks

Notes: After opening the season with three straight wins, the Timbers only have one win in their last four games (2L-1D). The Timbers have only kept one clean sheet in their seven games of 2017.

Vancouver Whitecaps

The tides might be turning in Vancouver this season -- despite a few missteps at the outset, the squad boasts two definite bright spots. Fredy Montero, himself an ex-Sounder, scored twice against his former club in their most recent match-up. And then there's the entire, snaking hype train around team phenom Alphonso Davies -- he looks, so far, like the real deal.

Goalkeeper David Ousted, too, continues to show promise -- but he can't do it all, and he'll need more support from his backline to secure a win. Luckily, Kendall Waston has had his back there recently, though both will have their work cut out for them under an expected Timbers onslaught.

Suspended: None
Int’l Duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Brett Levis (ACL tear), M - Yordy Reyna (foot surgery), D - David Edgar (PCL, MCL tear), F - Erik Hurtado (left foot contusion), M - Brek Shea (left knee sprain), M - Marco Bustos (left hamstring strain)

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1): David Ousted – Sheanon Williams, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey – Matias Laba, Russell Teibert – Alphonso Davies, Christian Bolanos, Cristian Techera – Fredy Montero

Notes: Vancouver only have one win in their last 11 MLS regular season away games (7L-3D). They have failed to score in nine of those 11 games. They've also conceded three goals from corners this season. No MLS team has conceded more.

All-Time Series

In 17 total meetings between the teams in MLS play, the Timbers have won seven times, the Whitecaps have won four times, and the two teams have drawn six times.