Preview: Seattle Sounders vs Portland Timbers - prediction, team news, lineups

Another Cascadia Cup clash will take place in the Pacific Northwest on Thursday as the Seattle Sounders welcome the Portland Timbers to Lumen Field in MLS action.

The Rave Green dropped down to sixth in the Western Conference after a 1-0 defeat at Los Angeles FC, while the Timbers are 13th following a 3-1 loss at home to the San Jose Earthquakes.

Match preview

The MLS break may have come at a good time for the Seattle Sounders, who had struggled throughout most of May.

Brian Schmetzer’s men have dropped points in four of their last five league outings, losing their last two matches before the break.

Another defeat on Thursday would mark the first time they will have lost three straight domestic encounters since July of 2023.

The Sounders have scored the third-fewest goals in the Western Conference (17) and failed to find the back of the net in their last two games.

Four of their seven victories this season have taken place at Lumen Field, though on Thursday, they could suffer consecutive home defeats in this competition for the first time since May of 2023.

Seattle have points in their last three home meetings with Portland, blanking them 1-0 in this exact fixture in 2025.

It has been a frustrating campaign for the most part in Portland, as the Timbers find themselves third from the bottom in the Western Conference.

Their campaign restarts without Phil Neville after the club parted ways with the Englishman during the break, appointing Jack Cassidy as the interim boss for the remainder of the campaign.

The former Timbers MLS NEXT Pro coach hopes to guide this team to their second win in their last five league encounters on Thursday.

Portland have lost their last two league fixtures and could equal their longest losing run of the 2026 campaign with another one this week.

This year, they have conceded at least once in each of their domestic away games, winning only once outside of Providence Park (2-1 at San Diego FC).

The Timbers are winless in their last three meeting with the Sounders in this competition, but have only gone pointless in one of their last four outings against them.

Seattle Sounders Major League Soccer form:

Portland Timbers Major League Soccer form:

Team News

An adductor issue could keep Paul Arriola away from the field for Seattle, Yeimar Gomez Andrade is dealing with a hamstring strain, while Nikola Petkovic and Pedro De la Vega have knee injuries.

Against LAFC, they had five new faces in the starting 11, including Albert Rusnak, Cristian Roldan and Paul Rothrock.

Meanwhile, on the Portland side, Omir Fernandez is dealing with a foot issue, while Diego Chara and Jose Caicedo are doubtful due to lower-body injuries.

In their loss to the Quakes, the only goal by the Timbers came courtesy of Antony, his second of the 2026 MLS campaign.

Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:

Thomas; Kossa-Rienzi, Kee-Hee, Ragen, Tolo; C. Roldan, Dotson; Ferreira, Rusnak, A. Roldan; Morris

Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:

Pantemis; Bye, Surman, Miller, Fory; Ortiz, Da Costa, Bassett; Lassiter, Kelsy, Antony