Preview:Portland Timbers vs Atletico San Luis - prediction, team news, lineups

On Wednesday, Atletico San Luis will seek their first victory in the Leagues Cup when they travel to Providence Park for a date with the Portland Timbers.

Last year, the Timbers were ousted from this competition in the round of 32 3-1 by St. Louis City, while San Luis finished bottom of their group with just a single point.

Match preview

As the saying goes, it is not how you start but how you finish, and Portland learned that the hard way during the 2024 edition of the Leagues Cup.

The Timbers had a 100% record in the group stage of last year's tournament but could not maintain that momentum into the knockout phase, losing in the round of 32 for a second consecutive season.

Phil Neville’s men have won three of their four all-time Leagues Cup group outings at Providence Park, with their only home defeat coming in 2023 versus Mexican side Tigres.

Over the past couple of months, this team have uncharacteristically struggled at home, winning just one of their previous four MLS matches played in Portland (2-1 versus the New England Revolution).

Meanwhile, they have won their last three group outings at this tournament in normal time and have given up only one goal over that stretch.

However, only one of their Leagues Cup triumphs occurred against a club from Liga MX, coming from behind to earn a 2-1 win over Club Leon at Providence Park last year.

This competition has not been kind to Atletico San Luis since its inception, though a year ago they were able to end it on a positive note.

A shootout defeat versus Orlando City was the first point this side had collected in the Leagues Cup in what was their fourth match of the competition all time.

In those four games, combined, San Luis have given up 11 goals, while only finding the back of the net on five occasions over that span.

Under new manager Guillermo Abascal, they began the new Liga MX Apertura campaign well, defeating Club Leon 1-0, but they are currently on a two-match losing run following a 4-3 defeat at Chivas on Saturday.

This team have never had a lead in any one of their four Leagues Cup encounters all time, netting just one goal in the opening 45 minutes of play.

Atleti de San Luis have won three of their previous four competitive fixtures when drawing first blood, with their only such defeat being against Club Tijuana in April (2-1).

Portland Timbers form (all competitions):

Atletico San Luis form (all competitions):

Team News

In their victory over Los Angeles FC this past weekend, Portland were missing Dario Zuparic due to a sore hip, while Jonathan Rodriguez and Antony were sidelined because of lower-body issues.

Cristhian Paredes had the only goal of that game late in the opening half, and Maxime Crepeau made three stops to collect a clean sheet against his former team.

Abascal made one change to the Atletico starting 11 from match two to three of the Apertura campaign, adding Mateo Klimowicz to the fold on Saturday in place of Miguel Garcia.

Eduardo Aguila Castro, Joao Pedro and Benjamin Galdames each scored second-half goals against Chivas, only for them to concede twice in the final six minutes and come away with nothing.

Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:

Crepeau; Surman, K. Miller, Fory; Mosquera, Paredes, Ayala, Smith; Moreno, Mora, Da Costa

Atletico San Luis possible starting lineup:

Sanchez; Torres, Juanpe, Castro, Sanabria; Dourado, Salles-Lamonge; Macias, Garcia, Galdames; Pedro

We say: Portland Timbers 3-1 Atletico San Luis

While they have conceded a goal or fewer in two of their three Apertura affairs this year, San Luis are still struggling to find consistency and adapt to their new manager, and against a side as gifted in the attacking third as Portland, they may have difficulty keeping up.

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