Seattle Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 18
CenturyLink Field — Seattle
June 30 — 4:30 pm ET
WATCH: FOX, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

A fierce rivalry is renewed Saturday afternoon when Seattle Sounders FC host the Portland Timbers, who come to CenturyLink Field riding a nine-match unbeaten streak.

This is the second of three meetings between the Cascadia rivals, with the Timbers prevailing, 1-0, at Providence Park, on May 13 with Sebastian Blanco scoring the winner four minutes from full time.

Both teams are 1W-1L-2D in their last four meetings in league play, with both sides scoring four goals during that time. The Timbers have never won a regular-season game in Seattle, but have won their lone postseason game there (2-1 win in 2013 playoffs), per Opta.

Seattle Sounders FC

Seattle (3-8-3) rallied from an early deficit to tie the Chicago Fire, 1-1, at home Saturday night, with Clint Dempsey leveling in the 22nd minute. It was his first goal of 2018 and his 47th regular-season goal, tying him with Fredy Montero atop the Sounders' all-time list.

It was an entertaining match with both teams attacking early and often. But the Sounders are now 2-3-2 at home, and the draw puts more pressure on them to get a result at C-Link on Saturday.

“Obviously it’s a big game for a lot of different reasons,” Brian Schmetzer said. “Number one, it’s our archrival, number two we need to collect points after dropping a couple on the weekend. But it’s Portland, so I’ll just stick with that.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Osvaldo Alonso, D - Nouhou Tolo, M - Cristian Roldan
International duty: D - Roman Torres
Injury Report: OUT: F - Jordan Morris (torn ACL), D - Kelvin Leerdam (right hamstring strain), M - Handwalla Bwana (right midfoot sprain), F - Felix Chenkam (right hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: M - Lamar Neagle (left groin strain), GK - Stefan Frei (concussion)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Bryan Meredith — Cristian Roldan, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou Tolo — Osvaldo Alonso, Nicolas Lodeiro — Harry Shipp, Clint Dempsey, Victor Rodriguez — Will Bruin

Notes: With his next goal, Dempsey will become the club’s all-time leader in MLS regular-season play. He has nine goals in 11 previous regular-season games against Portland. … The Sounders have lost three of their last five league games, scoring a total of four goals (1W-1D).

Portland Timbers

Portland (6-3-5) extended their unbeaten streak to nine games with a 1-1 draw at Atlanta Sunday. It was the Timbers' third consecutive draw after six straight victories.

Defender Larrys Mabiala pounced on the rebound of Samuel Armenteros’ flick off Diego Valeri’s free kick and headed past Brad Guzan to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute before Julian Gressel equalized for the Supporters' Shield leaders in the 56th minute.

“These are the easiest games in regards to the mentality, because everybody understands when you play Seattle and you’re a Portland Timbers player, this is going to be a huge game and it’s going to be a difficult game and it’s a derby,” Giovanni Savarese said. “These are the games that actually every player on the team understands clearly what is at stake.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Larrys Mabiala
International duty: M - David Guzman, M - Andy Polo
Injury Report: QUESTIONABLE: D - Roy Miller (left Achilles tendon injury), D - Liam Ridgewell (right quad injury), GK - Kendall McIntosh (left thigh injury), F - Fanendo Adi (left thigh injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-2-1, right to left)
GK: Jeff Attinella — Alvas Powell, Bill Tuiloma, Larrys Mabiala, Zarek Valentin — Cristhian Paredes, Diego Chara, Andres Flores — Diego Valeri, Sebastian Blanco — Samuel Armenteros

Notes: Jeff Attinella saved eight shots against Atlanta last weekend, the second most ever by a Timbers goalkeeper in a MLS match (including playoffs). … Portland are now unbeaten in their last nine games in league play (6W-3D), allowing just 0.8 goals per game. They have never drawn four consecutive MLS matches.

All-Time Series

Overall: Seattle Sounders FC 9 wins, 35 goals … Portland Timbers 6 wins, 31 goals … 6 draws
At Seattle: Sounders FC 7 wins, 16 goals … Timbers 0 wins, 5 goals … 3 draws
Last meeting at Seattle: Seattle Sounders FC 1, Portland Timbers 1 (Aug. 27, 2017)