Portland Timbers will be looking to climb into the automatic playoff qualifying places in the West when they play host to Austin FC at Providence Park on Wednesday.
While Los Verdes' playoff dreams can be considered effectively over, they will head into the weekend looking to end their six-game winless run against the home side and secure their first victory since late August.
Match preview
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Portland Timbers continue to struggle for results on their travels as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw against Vancouver Whitecaps when the two sides squared off at BC Place on Sunday.
The Timbers found themselves trailing inside the third minute after Brian White broke the deadlock to put the hosts in front but Jonathan Rodriguez restored parity shortly before the half-time break to force a share of the spoils.
Portland Timbers have now failed to win any of their last four away matches, picking up two draws and losing twice, including a 3-1 defeat against St Louis City in the Leagues Cup round of 32 on August 10.
After two consecutive games on the road, Phil Neville's men return to the Q2 Stadium, where they are on a run of 11 consecutive games without defeat, claiming nine wins and two draws since a 2-1 loss against Seattle Sounders on May 12.
Portland Timbers will be backing themselves to return to winning ways on Wednesday as they go up against an opposing side who have failed to win each of the last six encounters between the teams, picking up five wins and one draw since a 3-1 loss in August 2021.
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On the other hand, Austin FC were left feeling somewhat disappointed at the weekend as they played out a 2-2 stalemate against Real Salt Lake despite a stunning second-half fightback at the Q2 Stadium.
Following a relatively uneventful first half, Matt Crooks and Diogo Goncalves scored in a 17-minute spell to put Real Salt Lake in a commanding lead but Jader Obrian and Guilherme Biro scored in the final 10 minutes to hand the hosts a hard-fought point.
Austin have now gone five back-to-back games without a win — losing three and claiming two draws since a 2-0 victory over Nashville at Geodis Park on August 25 — a run which has seen their hopes of post-season football effectively come to an end.
Having finished 12th in the Western Conference table last season, Josh Wolff's men are set to go two consecutive years without a playoff appearance as they currently sit 11th in the table with 36 points from 31 games, nine points off Wednesday's hosts in the second play-in spot.
While Wolf can take pride in the solid job done by the defenders, who have conceded just 44 goals in MLS, Los Verdes' poor campaign has been owing to a lack of cutting edge at the attacking end of the pitch, where they have netted just 34 goals in their 31 matches so far — only Nashville (31) and New England Revolution (33) have scored fewer.
Team News
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Mason Toye missed the games against Vancouver Whitecaps at the weekend after coming off with a back injury versus Real Salt Lake on September 22 and the American forward is a doubt for Portland Timbers.
With his strike against the Whitecaps, Rodriguez now has 16 goals and five assists in 26 league games this season and the Uruguayan forward will certainly be on to keep an eye on.
Rodriguez should form the attacking quartet with Antony Alves, Santiago Moreno and Felipe Mora, who boasts 14 league goals to his name, while Diego Chara and Cristhian Paredes should team up in the midfield pivot.
At the defensive end of the pitch, Juan Mosquera, Miguel Araujo, Dario Zuparic and Kamal Miller should form the back four, with Canada international Maxime Crepeau starting in goal once again.
As for Austin, Wolff will be unable to call upon the services of 32-year-old goalkeeper Matt Bersano, who has been out of action since August through a leg injury.
He is joined on Los Verdes' injury table by veteran defender Matt Hedges, who is set to sit out his fourth consecutive game after sustaining a hip problem against Toronto FC on September 15.
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; Mosquera, Araujo, Zuparic, Miller; Chara, Paredes; Alves, Moreno, Rodriguez; Mora
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Desler, Cascante, Hines-Ike, Biro; Bukari, Wolff, Ring, Gallagher; Obrian, Driussi
We say: Portland Timbers 2-0 Austin FC
Portland Timbers return to the Q2 Stadium for the first of their final two home games of the campaign and will fancy themselves against a deflated Austin side who have run out of steam at the business end of the season.
Neville's men have enjoyed the better of this fixture and we are backing them to extend their dominance over Los Verdes with a comfortable victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
