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Portland Timbers
Major League Soccer
May 15, 2022 at 3am UK
Jeld-Wen Field
Sporting Kansas

Portland
7 - 2
Kansas

Tuiloma (12'), Blanco (46', 52'), Fogaca (56', 69'), Loria (88'), Moreno (90+2')
van Rankin (64'), Tuiloma (72'), Chara (86')
van Rankin (74')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Russell (57'), Tzionis (75')
Espinoza (18'), Voloder (35')

Preview: Portland Timbers vs. Sporting Kansas City - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Major League Soccer clash between Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Looking to end a five-game winless streak across all competitions, Portland Timbers welcome Sporting Kansas City to Providence Park on Sunday.

On the other hand, the away side come into this one looking to make it back to back victories for the first time this term having ended a run of six straight winless matches last time out.


Match preview

Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese before a game against Los Angeles Galaxy at Providence Park on April 4, 2022© Reuters

Portland Timbers have suffered an early exit from this season's US Open Cup following a 2-0 disappointing defeat to Los Angeles FC on Sunday.

Goals in either half from Cristian Arango and Mamadou Fall sent Giovanni Savarese's men packing in a largely one-sided contest at the Banc of California Stadium.

This came off the back of a 1-1 stalemate against New York Red Bulls in the Timbers' last league outing on May 1, which leaves them sitting 10th in the Western Conference.

Their next assignment comes against an opposing side who have failed to win any of the most recent eight meetings between the teams since August 2018.

Having amassed just six points across five home league matches this term, Sunday's hosts will need to get going in front of their fans to stand any chance of challenging for a playoff berth.

Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes reacts during the first half against Real Salt Lake at Children's Mercy Park on March 26, 2022© Reuters

Sporting Kansas City came out on top in a 4-2 thriller against FC Dallas at the Children's Mercy Park to progress into the next round of the US Open Cup.

Peter Vermes's men found themselves with a mountain to climb at half time thanks to first-half strikes from Franco Jara and Eddie Munjoma, before hitting back through Nikola Vujnovic, Marinos Tzionis, Khiry Shelton and an own goal from Edwin Cerrillo.

Prior to that, the Wizards, who are currently 12th in the Western Conference, were held to a drab goalless draw by New York City FC in last Sunday's encounter at the Yankee Stadium.

With just one point picked up from six away league games so far, Sunday's visitors will be seeking a change in fortune on the road this weekend.

Portland Timbers Major League Soccer form:
  • L
  • W
  • D
  • D
  • L
  • D

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

Sporting Kansas City Major League Soccer form:
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • D
  • D

Sporting Kansas City form (all competitions):
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • D
  • D
  • W


Team News

Portland Timbers defender Bill Tuiloma (25) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the second half against Los Angeles Galaxy at Providence Park on April 3, 2022© Reuters

Portland's Felipe Mora still awaits his first outing of the campaign as he continues to recuperate from a recent surgery.

Thirty-year-old George Fochive has not featured much this term either having missed a huge chunk of action due to a knee problem.

Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda will both be unavailable for Sporting Kansas, with the duo currently nursing respective knee injuries.

American defender Graham Zusi is a huge doubt for Sunday's contest, which should see Robert Voloder retain his place in the starting XI.

Nicolas Isimat-Mirin could however return to the fold after sitting out each of the last three games with a hamstring injury.

Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Bingham; Rasmussen, Zuparic, Mabiala, Bonillia; Williamson, Paredes; Loria, Chara, Moreno; Niezgoda

Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Ndenbe, Voloder, Ford, Duke; Walter, Rosell, Espinoza; Salloi, Shelton, Russell


SM words green background

We say: Portland Timbers 1-0 Sporting Kansas City

Both sides have struggled in front of goal this term, so we expect a low-scoring affair with little goalmouth action. That said, we are also backing the home team to narrowly edge out their visitors and come away with all three points.



Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Portland Timbers win with a probability of 54.32%. A draw had a probability of 24% and a win for Sporting Kansas City had a probability of 21.71%.

The most likely scoreline for a Portland Timbers win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.88%) and 2-1 (9.72%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.39%), while for a Sporting Kansas City win it was 0-1 (6.68%). The actual scoreline of 7-2 was predicted with a 0% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Portland Timbers would win this match.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 2.5 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.Over 2.5:data



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Game History

How you voted: Portland vs Kansas

Portland Timbers
100%
Draw
0.0%
Sporting Kansas City
0.0%
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New York Red Bulls midfielder Omir Fernandez (21) celebrates after scoring a goal against the CF Montreal in the first half at Red Bull Arena on April 9, 2022
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Eastern Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Inter MiamiInter Miami34228479493074
2Columbus Crew34199672403266
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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