Last Saturday, the Portland Timbers managed to walk away from their match in Seattle with a draw—perhaps not the best outcome, but a challenging and positive result nonetheless. Tomorrow evening, the Timbers will host the Columbus Crew as the team returns to the comforts of their own passionate support at Jeld-Wen Field.
The Timbers are currently 4-0-0 at home and look to add to the streak with a win over a surging Columbus side. The Timbers’ winning performance at home is currently the best in Major League Soccer—no other team is undefeated on their home pitch. Despite Portland’s impressive home performance, Columbus will give the Timbers a run for their money.
The Crew are currently sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, with a 3-2-4 overall record and 13 total points. The Columbus Crew have only lost one of their last five match-ups, most recently coming off of an embarrassing 3-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes, as they allowed a struggling San Jose side their first home win of the season. The loss could prove to be dangerous for the Timbers, as the Crew will be motivated to redeem their recent slip up on the road.
The Timbers are also fired up after their draw at the hyped Seattle environment and are now looking to follow the draw with a win. Portland has been seeing increasing confidence by the day as players are beginning to find chemistry and cohesiveness. With the re-entrance of MLS Superdraft pick Darlington Nagbe, the Timbers are starting to see results on the field from the iryoung and quick team.
Six different players have scored two or more goals on the Timbers roster, with forward Kenny Cooper leading all scorers with three goals and one assist. Midfielder Kalif Alhassan and Jack Jewsbury have added four assists apiece for the Timbers and sit among the top five leaders in assists in MLS.
On the defensive side, the Timbers will have to work hard to shut down Emilio Renteria. The midfielder has four of Columbus’ eight goals so far this season. The Crew have struggled to find other scoring threats on the team, but statistics can be dangerously misleading. With all eyes on Renteria, many others will be looking to score and prevent the Crew from dropping two straight games on the road.
With competition currently wide open, there are no teams thus far in MLS that truly separate themselves from the rest of the league in the standings. Only three teams have reached five wins to date and the tight race means every win could change the placement of the Timbers or Crew in their respective conferences. The level competition leaves the gates open for the Portland team currently sitting in fifth place in the West with 14 points, trailing second place by only three points (one win in MLS point standings).
This weekend’s match with Columbus will kick off a three game home stand for the Timbers, an important stretch for the team to continue building momentum. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Jeld-Wen Field on Saturday night. ?