In search of their first road victory of the MLS campaign, the Vancouver Whitecaps head to Providence Park on Saturday for a Cascadia Cup duel versus the Portland Timbers.
The Timbers were minutes away from winning back-to-back domestic affairs for the first time all season but ultimately settled for a 2-2 draw with Austin FC, while the Caps extended their unbeaten run to eight matches in this competition, winning a nail-biter 3-2 against Minnesota United.
Match preview
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Another chapter in the bitter Cascadia rivalry takes place this weekend and for Portland these games seem to really boost the morale of this group.
Heading into their previous Pacific Northwest rivalry fixture versus the Seattle Sounders, the Timbers were in a slump, winless in six MLS matches, four of which were losses, including a 1-0 defeat on the road against Vancouver.
Since a 4-1 defeat at home to the Rave Green though Giovanni Savarese's men are singing a different tune, unbeaten in consecutive league fixtures for the first time in 2023 and currently holding down the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference with 12 points.
Their slumbering offence, which had produced a goal or fewer in six of their opening seven MLS affairs, appears to have woken up, scoring multiple goals in five of their last six matches in all competitions.
While the Timbers' performances and results have changed over the past few weeks they continue to be slow out of the gate, with 12 of their 15 league goals this year coming in the second half, conceding just once domestically in the opening 45 minutes at Providence Park.
Last season the Timbers won the Cascadia Cup for the first time since 2017, capturing three wins and a draw against the Sounders and Caps, and a victory on Saturday would vault them into the lead of that competition this year and also give them consecutive wins at home for the first time in 2023.
The Timbers squandered a pair of one-goal leads at the US Open Cup on Wednesday as they were knocked out of that tournament, narrowly losing 4-3 versus Real Salt Lake.
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In a back and forth contest against a pesky Loons side, the Whitecaps did just enough to claim three points, vaulting them up to seventh in the Western Conference, two points behind Dallas for fifth.
The Caps' MLS club record shutout streak (443 minutes) and their record-long home run without conceding in this competition (388 minutes) may have ended last Saturday, but Vancouver are a mere two games away from matching their longest unbeaten streak in this competition from 2021 (10).
Vanni Sartini helped engineer their turnaround that year, though the Italian has not been able to get this team over the line often away from home, collecting a mere three victories in regular season road fixtures since taking over in August 2021.
His first away victory as Whitecaps boss came in Portland in 2021 when his side erased a 2-0 half-time deficit to win 3-2, while they have points in three straight MLS road fixtures, leading in two of their four regular season encounters outside of Vancouver this season, losing to the San Jose Earthquakes (2-1) and drawing the Los Angeles Galaxy (1-1).
A win or draw this weekend would tie the Caps' longest unbeaten road run from last season (four), while it would also match their longest stretch without an MLS defeat at Providence Park when they drew them on three successive occasions in 2015, including a 0-0 tie in the opening leg of their playoff encounter that year.
Vancouver have scored multiple goals in only two regular season road fixtures since Sartini took charge, but with another clean sheet on Saturday it would equal their longest shutout streak away from home in this competition from 2022 (two).
Despite a frustrating hour of play in their Canadian Championship fixture on Wednesday the Caps are still in the hunt to retain that title, defeating York United 4-1.
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Team News
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Zac McGraw is eligible to return to the Portland lineup following his yellow card suspension in their draw versus the Verde and Black, Eryk Williamson might still be out with a right knee problem, David Ayala and Felipe Mora have left knee issues and Tega Ikoba has an injured right hamstring.
Dario Zuparic and Claudio Bravo notched their first of the campaign for the Timbers last weekend, but it was not enough as Aljaz Ivacic conceded for the fifth successive MLS encounter.
Mora had the only goal the last time they hosted the Caps in 2022 in a 1-1 draw, while Yimmi Chara had a goal and an assist when they squandered a 2-0 lead at home to Vancouver in 2021.
Sebastian Blanco, Justin Rasmussen and Jaroslaw Niezgoda all found the back of the net in their defeat to RSL at the US Open Cup earlier this week.
The Whitecaps are still without Max Anchor because of a left shoulder sprain, while Sartini made one change to his starting 11 against the Loons from the side that began their match against the Colorado Rapids with Alessandro Schopf reclaiming his spot in the midfield and Ali Ahmed relegated to the bench.
Brian White, who has a goal in three of his previous four matches versus the Timbers, had a brace on Saturday, as he is now on four goals this season, tied for the team lead alongside Simon Becher who scored the winner against Minnesota, while Yohei Takaoka did not face a single shot when they defeated Portland earlier this season.
An own-goal from Elijah Adekugbe helped open the floodgates for Vancouver in their Canadian Championship victory over York earlier this week, with the other strikes coming courtesy of Becher, Levonte Johnson and Julian Gressel.
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Mosquera, Mabiala, Zuparic, Bravo; D. Chara, Paredes; Moreno, Evander, Blanco; Boli
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Brown, Veselinovic, Blackmon, Martins; Gressel, Cubas, Schopf; Caicedo, White, Gauld
We say: Portland Timbers 1-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
Matches between these two are traditionally fairly close, and we do not expect it to be any different on Saturday as they have both shown plenty of commitment and spirit following a difficult start to the season for each.
How to watch
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
