Three weeks into the 2017 season, the Portland Timbers are flying high. Having outscored Minnesota, LA, and Houston 10-3, the Timbers lead MLS with nine points and a perfect 3-0-0 record.
On Saturday, the Timbers will take that perfect record into Columbus for their first game at MAPFRE Stadium since they won MLS Cup 2015 (4:30 PM, TV on ROOT Sports). With a win, Portland would tie its longest ever MLS regular season winning streak.
The History
Columbus and MAPFRE Stadium will always hold a special place in Timbers lore. On December 6, 2015, it was the sight of the club's first league championship when the Timbers beat the Crew 2-1 to win MLS Cup.
This is the first game between these two teams in central Ohio since that final almost a year-and-a-half ago. The Timbers also won the last regular season meeting played in Columbus, in September of 2015, by that 2-1 scoreline.
The Timbers also beat Columbus 2-1 when the clubs met on Opening Day at Providence Park last season. It was the beginning of a disastrous season for the Crew, who finished in ninth place in the Eastern Conference just a year after after winning it the year before.
Of the 22 players who started for these two teams in the game last March, only eight or possibly nine are expected to start on Saturday.
The Tactics
This is one of just three games taking place this weekend, as the league mostly pauses for the FIFA international break. All eyes in the American soccer world will be on San Jose Friday night, when the U.S. national team plays a must-win World Cup qualifier against Honduras.
Darlington Nagbe will be part of that U.S. effort — as will former Timber Jorge Villafaña — and so the Ohio-native will miss the game against the Crew on Saturday. The Timbers will also be without Liam Ridgewell, David Guzman, and potentially Vytas, who is day to day with a calf injury.
Marco Farfan — whose bout with the stomach flu landed him in the hospital last week — is back to training, and the expected starter at left back if Vytas can't go. Zarek Valentin, who played well in that spot against Houston, is an option as well.
Caleb Porter has several choices in Nagbe's spot on the left wing, with Darren Mattcoks, Darion Asprilla, and Jack Barmby all having lined up there at various points last season. Ben Zemanski is the likely replacement for Guzman. This game will be the first of the year that the Timbers haven't started the same front six.
Columbus got their first win of 2017 last weekend in D.C., and they did so by using a unfamiliarly pragmatic 3-6-1 formation. Whether Gregg Berhalter sticks with what worked or moves back to his preferred 4-2-3-1 will be a major factor in the way the game is played.
The Lineup
90 - Gleeson
32 - Farfan
7 - Miller
13 - Olum
2 - Powell
14 - Zemanski
21 - Chara
27 - Asprilla
8 - Valeri (C)
10 - Blanco
9 - Adi
The Pick
It'd be no surprise if the Timbers went out and won again on Saturday, but, at some point, you have to expect that all the absences will take a toll. 2-2 draw.
