The race for the Cascadia Cup continues this Saturday when the Vancouver Whitecaps travel South to Jeld-Wen Field. Vancouver hosted Portland earlier this season in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. Aside from the Cascadia Cup, these teams are just two points away from each other in a tightly packed Western Conference.
The Portland Timbers are coming off a relatively lackluster July, limping to a record of 1-2-1. This match is a solid chance for them to turn things around at an important time in the season. Not only have the Timbers never been defeated by the Whitecaps, but they’ve won four out of six total matches and two of four matches at Jeld-Wen. These three points are needed badly. They could put Salt Lake, Colorado, and Portland in a three-way tie for first place if Colorado also defeats RSL on Saturday. Or, if Colorado draws or loses, Portland would be alone in second by at least two points.
Futty Danso and Diego Chara remain sidelined for Saturday, though Chara could return on the 7th for Open Cup play. This means that Ben Zemanski will start in Chara’s place against Vancouver. I really don’t like Zemanski as a starter. He’s a fine sub in the midfield or right back, but when he starts the Timbers lose points on defense and in midfield link-up passing. Part of me still wants to see Alvas Powell make the 18 tomorrow. Jack Jewsbury has been getting burned lately and gave up a pass that directly led to an opponent goal last week. Powell doesn’t need to start, but the option of a faster right-back that could make up for the lack of Chara tackles excites me.
Vancouver comes to Portland on a two game losing streak and several players down. Midfielder Jun Marques Davidson and Gershon Koffie are both serving car suspensions this week. Davidson received a red card and Koffie his fifth yellow last week against Philadelphia. Kenny Miller might also miss this match which would help the Timbers tremendously. Camilo Sanvezzo is in top-form and will require a lot of attention from the back line. The loss of Miller should relieve some of the pressure that Andrew Jean-Baptiste and Pa Modou Kah will face.
Match Thoughts:
● Piquionne had better start. Ryan Johnson hasn’t looked good in either of the last two game and Piq got an assist last match. Piquionne is far better in the air and can spring wingers a lot better than RJ.
● The Goal Differential at Jeld-Wen is tight. The Timbers have only scored two more goals in Portland than the Whitecaps have with an average of 2.67 goals scored between them at Jeld-Wen.
● This match changes Cascadia Cup no matter what. Portland is last in the Cascadia Cup race with two points. Vancouver and Seattle are tied for first with 4 points each. No matter what happens tonight, one team will be taking first place.
Projected Lineups:
Portland: Donovan Ricketts; Michael Harrington, Pa Modou Kah, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Jack Jewsbury; Will Johnson, Diego Valeri, Ben Zemanski; Rodney Wallace, Frederic Piquionne, Darlington Nagbe
Vancouver: Brad Knighton; Jordan Harvey, Johnny Leveron, Brad Rusin, Lee Young-Pyo; Matt Watson, Nigel Reo-Coker, Daigo Kobayashi; Camilo Sanvezzo, Kekuta Manneh, Russell Teibert
(image courtesy of Craig Mitchelldyer)
