There’s no rest for the weary, injured, and increasingly under-fire Portland Timbers this week, as league-leading FC Dallas comes calling at Providence Park on Saturday night (7:30 PM, TV on ROOT Sports, Radio on 750 AM the Game.)
This is the last of Portland’s murderous five straight season-opening games against 2014 playoff teams, and it’s possible that Dallas is the most dangerous opponent the Timbers have seen thus far. With three wins and a draw to start the season in comparison to Portland’s three draws and a loss, the Timbers will be increasingly desperate to post a win—especially back in front of their home crowd.
The History
These two teams have been studies in contrast for the last few years, with Dallas traditionally fast starters who flame out at the end of the year, and Portland slow starters who heat up down the stretch.
These two teams have generally played exciting games in Portland. Both teams have exciting young attacking talent and have often been suspect defensively in the past, though that appears to have changed this year. The meeting between these two in Portland on the eve of the World Cup last year was perhaps the wackiest and most frustrating Timbers’ capitulation of 2014, when Dallas had two players sent off, Gaston Fernandez and Will Johnson argued over who would take a penalty, and Pa Modou Kah somehow scored a stoppage time equalizer in the 95th minute.
In 2013, Donovan Ricketts and Raul Fernandez combined for a memorable goalkeeping duel that was won by the Timbers on a sensational goal from noted FC Dallas-killer Darlington Nagbe. Portland’s last MLS win was at Dallas on the final day of last season.
The Tactics
With Ishmael Yartey still not in town, expect to see Dairon Asprilla back in the starting lineup in the Timbers’ traditional 4-2-3-1 look instead of the 4-4-2 they tried last weekend in Vancouver. Asprilla put in his best shift of the season off the bench against the ‘Caps, while his replacement Maxi Urruti was pedestrian at best.
Jack Jewsbury is still a doubt as he recovers from a concussion—it’s possible that he could be ready to go, but Caleb Porter will have no problem playing George Fochive again in central midfield.
It will be interesting to see if the Timbers continue to play direct football, or will try to keep the ball more against Dallas. The matchup of Portland’s center-backs against Dallas’ bully of a striker Blas Perez, and the matchup of FCD center-back Matt Hedges against a hot Fanendo Adi should be crucial as well.
The Lineup
12 – Kwarasey
19 – Villafaña
7 – Borchers
24 – Ridgewell (C)
2 – Powell
26 – Fochive
21 – Chara
22 – Wallace
6 – Nagbe
11 – Asprilla
9 – Adi
The Pick
This is a results business, and the Timbers had a poor month But all losses aren’t created equal—Portland played well in their defeat against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Timbers’ defense will cut out the mental errors, and Darlington Nagbe will score. Relieved of the psychological burden of playing in March, the Timbers get their season back on track with a 1-0 win.
