Portland Timbers welcome Colorado Rapids to Providence Park on Saturday evening on the opening weekend of the new MLS season.
Both sides did not make it into the Western Conference playoffs last season, with the visitors finishing at the bottom while the hosts missed out by a point.
Match preview
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Portland missed out on the playoffs by one point last season after losing to Houston Dynamo on a night they needed to win.
Last season was a generally poor one for the Timbers, who also could not go past the round of 32 in the US Open Cup.
With a new season on the horizon, the Timbers will hope to emulate their 2015 performance when they went all the way to become MLS champions for the only time in their history.
Last season was the first time Portland failed to make the playoffs in six seasons, after winning the Western Conference playoffs for the third time as recently as 2021.
Asides winning the Western Conference playoffs in 2015, 2018 and 2021, while they also topped the Western Conference in 2013 and 2017.
After taking over the job in November 2023, Manager Phil Neville will hope to return Portland to the playoffs in the 2024 season.
The MLS pre-season was not a solid one for Neville's side, who lost twice in four matches, winning once and drawing one.
However, they will look to kick off the regular season with a win against a side they have dominated on home soil, picking up 10 wins from 14 meetings at Providence Park.
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Colorado Rapids had another season to forget, finishing bottom of the Western Conference and 28th out of 29th overall.
The Pids also failed to go beyond the round of 16 in the US Open Cup, in a season they won just five competitive matches.
Colorado will be looking to end a 14-year wait for an MLS Cup crown, as despite topping the Western Conference as recently as 2021, their only overall success came in 2010.
New manager Chris Armas, who was appointed in November 2023, is yet to take charge of a competitive game, but they had a decent preseason, recording three wins from six encounters while losing two and drawing one.
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Team News
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Portland midfielder Marvin Loria is out long term with an ACL injury, and is expected to be out for between four and five months.
Left back Claudio Bravo also had a right knee operation and is not expected back until late April.
The addition of one of MLS' top goalkeepers in Maxime Crepeau and centre back Kamal Miller will bring some extra defensive solidity to the Timbers.
Colorado Rapids have a clean bill of health heading into their season opener, leaving Armas with a wealth of options.
The Rapids have added defensive midfielder Lamine Diack, experienced goalkeeper Zack Steffen and re-acquired left back Sam Vines, to add some defensive solidity.
Djordje Mihailovic and Omir Fernandez also arrived to add some attacking bite to the side.
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; E. Miller, K. Miller, McGraw, Mosquera; Williamson, Chara; Moreno, Evander, Antony; Mora
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Rosenberry, Bombito, Maxso, Vines; Diack, Ronan; Cabral, Bassett, Mihailovic; Navarro
We say: Portland Timbers 2-1 Colorado Rapids
Portland have dominated this fixture on home soil and we expect the energy of the home crowd to push them to victory once again in their first game of the season.
Both sides will want a positive start to get their campaign underway, but the hosts will have more incentive to edge the game in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
