Portland and Columbus will meet for the only time this season in Crew Stadium this Sunday at 5pm ET. The Timbers have not played a league match in over two weeks and is carrying a 15 MLS match unbeaten streak. The Crew have lost the last three straight, they were defeated 2-1 by the LA Galaxy last Thursday.
The month of June was immensely successful for the Portland Timbers. They went unbeaten in all contests and took eight of a possible twelve points, good enough for third in the West and first in many media outlets’ power rankings. While Portland has been in form and should be rested for this game, they will be missing two of their best attacking players and their captain. Rodney Wallace, Frederic Piquionne, and Will Johnson will all be with their respective national teams playing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
With Wallace, Piquionne, and Johnson all out, Caleb Porter will need to shuffle up the lineup. Most likely, Ryan Johnson will start at striker and Kalif Alhassan will take right wing with Darlington Nagbe sliding over to the left. This is similar to how Portland played during CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying with Piquionne and Johnson’s duties reversed.
Will Johnson’s midfield spot is a tad harder to fill. Michael Harrington came back from injury on Wednesday to play in Portland’s ‘Copa Verde’ against Monarcas Morelia. I think Porter replaces Ryan Miller with Michael Harrington and keeps Jack Jewsbury at right back. He then brings Ben Zemanski into the starting 11 in place of Will Johnson. Zemanski keeps the Timbers playing with speed in the midfield and creates better than Cap’t Jack would in the same position.
Columbus will be playing their second MLS match in four days and missing both Eddie Gaven and Jairo Arrieta. Gaven tore his ACL and is out for the season while Arrieta is away for the Gold Cup. Even without these two Portland’s defensive line will need to be in top form to contain Federico Higuain and Dominic Oduro. The Timbers can be beat by speedy forwards as has been seen each time they’ve played FC Dallas. Jackson regularly burns defenders and gets into dangerous spots, I expect Oduro to pose a similar threat.
Projected Lineups:
Portland Timbers: Donovan Ricketts; Michael Harrington, Pa-Modou Kah, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Jack Jewsbury; Diego Chara, Diego Valeri, Ben Zemanski; Darlington Nagbe, Ryan Johnson, Kalif Alhassan.
Columbus Crew: Andy Gruenebaum; Chad Barson, Danny O’Rourke, Chad Marshall, Josh Williams; Ben Speas, Kevan George, Matias Sanchez, Bernardo Anor; Federico Higuain; Dominic Oduro.
(image courtesy of Craig Mitchelldyer)
