After losing their first game of the season last weekend in Columbus, the Portland Timbers return home to face the New England Revolution on Sunday night at Providence Park (6:00 PM, TV on ESPN2).
The Timbers, welcoming Darlington Nagbe and David Guzman back from international duty, will be gunning for their third straight home win to open the season — a feat not accomplished since the inaugural MLS campaign of 2011.
The History
This series has, traditionally, been dominated by the home team. The Timbers have never won in New England, and the Revs, beyond never winning in Portland, have never even scored a goal at Providence Park.
The last game between the two teams in Portland was a classic — an early June encounter that was scoreless all the way until the 86th minute, when Fanendo Adi came off the bench to head home a Jorge Villafaña free-kick. Adi, of course, would score again just three minutes later in what would finish as a 2-0 Timbers win.
The Timbers had the lead for much of the second half in the game at Gillette Stadium last year, but were denied the full points when Jermaine Taylor scored an own goal in the 89th minute.
All three of the Timbers' past MLS #1 goalkeepers — Troy Perkins, Donovan Ricketts, and Adam Kwarasey — have kept clean sheets against the Revolution. Jake Gleeson will try to join that club on Sunday night.
The Tactics
Nagbe and Guzman are both back from their respective national teams, and should slot right back into the lineup — reuniting the Timbers front six which scored 10 goals in the first three games of the season.
Defensively, the Timbers are still shorthanded. Liam Ridgewell remains sidelined with the foot sprain that has kept him out of the lineup since the LA game, while Vytas is still questionable with the calf problem that he suffered against Minnesota.
If Vytas can't go, Marco Farfan — now fully recovered from the stomach flu — should be the choice for his home debut at left back. Roy Miller and Lawrence Olum, who struggled against the Crew, will start again at center back.
New England racked up a big 5-2 win that hapless Minnesota team last weekend, but the Revs opened the season with losses on the road against Western Conference teams Colorado and FC Dallas. The Revs have a lot of talent up front, and Olum and Miller will have to better organized than they were against Columbus.
The Lineup
90 - Gleeson
32 - Farfan
7 - Miller
13 - Olum
2 - Powell
20 - Guzman
21 - Chara
6 - Nagbe
8 - Valeri (C)
10 - Blanco
9 - Adi
The Pick
We've yet to see a team slow down the Timbers' offense at home, and with the band back together after the international break, that won't change on Sunday. 3-1 Portland.
