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Portland Timbers
Major League Soccer
Aug 31, 2023 at 3.30am UK
Providence Park
Real Salt Lake

Portland
2 - 1
Salt Lake

Moreno (13'), Mora (64')
Chara (34'), Asprilla (90+3'), Bingham (90+5')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Arango (83')
Mastroeni (35'), Ojeda (45+1'), Vera (86')

Preview: Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Major League Soccer clash between Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

After suffering four consecutive defeats, Portland Timbers will attempt to return to winning ways when they welcome Real Salt Lake to Providence Park on Wednesday.

The visitors are also looking to end a poor run of form after losing their last three matches across all competitions.


Match preview

Portland Timbers forward Franck Boli (7) celebrates with midfielder Cristhian Paredes (22) after scoring a goal on June 21, 2023© Reuters

Since beating San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 in their first group game of the Leagues Cup, Portland have gone on to lose four straight matches, including their last two MLS matches.

Giovanni Savarese, who spent five years in the Portland dugout, was sacked following a demoralising 5-0 defeat to Houston Dynamo earlier this month, resulting in Miles Joseph being placed in interim charge.

Portland's defensive struggles continued on Saturday when they shipped three more goals in a narrow 3-2 defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Timbers, who hold the worst defensive record in the Western Conference, have a mountain to climb if they are to finish in the playoffs this season.

With nine matches left to play in the regular season, Portland are currently six points adrift of ninth-placed Austin FC, leaving them at risk of missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Real Salt Lake forward Cristian Arango (9) reacts after scoring a goal on August 5, 2023© Reuters

Despite winning their opening Leagues Cup match, Real Salt Lake were eliminated in the group stage following a heavy 4-0 defeat to Los Angeles FC.

Pablo Mastroeni's side were then knocked out of another cup competition, losing 3-1 after extra time to Houston Dynamo in the semi-finals of the US Open Cup.

Real Salt Lake would have been aiming to get revenge in Saturday's MLS meeting with Houston, but it proved to be another disappointing outing, as they fell to a 3-0 home defeat.

Although they currently have the third-worst defence in the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake sit in fourth place with 37 points to their name.

Impressively, they share the best away record in MLS with Orlando City, having picked up 21 points from 12 matches, and they will be looking to add to that tally on Wednesday.

Portland Timbers Major League Soccer form:


Portland Timbers form (all competitions):
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L

Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer form:


Real Salt Lake form (all competitions):
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • L


Team News

Portland Timbers midfielder Evander (20) is given a second yellow card on July 27, 2023© Reuters

Portland recently confirmed that Jaroslaw Niezgoda suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the defeat to Houston earlier this month.

The hosts are also without the services of David Ayala and Eryk Williamson, who are both ruled out with serious knee injuries.

Defender Dario Zuparic and midfielder Evander are both set to serve one-match suspensions for an accumulation of yellow cards.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Erik Holt and Pablo Ruiz, who are sidelined with shoulder and knee problems respectively.

Goalkeeper Zac MacMath was replaced by Gavin Beavers at the weekend, but the 32-year-old could be recalled for Wednesday's contest.

Braian Ojeda could also return to the starting XI after dropping down to the bench for Saturday's defeat to the Houston Dynamo.


Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Bingham; Mosquera, Araujo, McGraw, Bravo; Paredes, D. Chara, Antony; Aprilla, Y. Chara, Mora

Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Hidalgo, Glad, Silva, Oviedo; Savarino, Ojeda, Loffelsend, Luna; Arango, Musovski


SM words green background

We say: Portland Timbers 1-2 Real Salt Lake

Both teams will be low on confidence following their recent poor run of results, but Real Salt Lake tend to perform well on their travels, and we think that they will get the better of Portland on Wednesday to claim a narrow victory.

How to watch

You can watch Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake and every MLS match this season live on Apple TV. Click here for more details on how to subscribe.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


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Game History

How you voted: Portland vs Salt Lake

Portland Timbers
12.5%
Draw
25.0%
Real Salt Lake
62.5%
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1Inter MiamiInter Miami34228479493074
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3FC CincinnatiCincinnati341851158481059
4Orlando City34157125950952
5Charlotte FCCharlotte FC34149114637951
6New York City FCNY City34148125449550
7New York Red BullsNY Red Bulls34111495550547
8CF MontrealMontreal341110134864-1643
9Atlanta UnitedAtlanta341010144649-340
10DC United341010145270-1840
11Philadelphia UnionPhiladelphia34910156255737
12Toronto34114194061-2137
13Nashville SCNashville3499163854-1636
14New England RevolutionNew England3494213774-3731
15Chicago Fire3479184062-2230

Western Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Los Angeles FCLos Angeles34197863432064
2Los Angeles GalaxyLA Galaxy34197869501964
3Real Salt LakeSalt Lake341611765481759
4Seattle SoundersSeattle34169951351657
5Houston DynamoHouston34159104739854
6Minnesota UnitedMinnesota Utd34157125849952
7Colorado RapidsColorado34155146160150
8Portland TimbersPortland341211116556947
9Vancouver WhitecapsVancouver34138135249347
10Austin FCAustin34119143948-942
11Dallas34118155456-241
12St Louis City34813135063-1337
13Sporting Kansas CityKansas3487195166-1531
14San Jose EarthquakesEarthquakes3463254178-3721


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