Portland Timbers will be aiming to move into the automatic playoff places when they visit the Dick's Sporting Goods Park to face Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
Having failed to win any of the last five meetings between the two sides, the Rapids will head into the weekend looking to get one over the Oregon outfit and extend their impressive home streak.
Match preview
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Colorado Rapids kept their dream of clinching the Western Conference crown alive on September 1 when they fought back from behind twice to secure an impressive 3-2 victory against Dallas on their return to league action.
In an action-packed contest at the Toyota Stadium, Logan Farrington and Petar Musa scored either side of Rafael Navarro's 11th-minute strike to put Dallas in front, but Navarro levelled matters in the 76th minute before Darren Yapi completed the comeback in the third minute of stoppage time.
This followed an impressive campaign in the Leagues Cup, where Colorado Rapids secured a third-placed finish as they edged out Philadelphia Union on penalties in the third-placed playoff after a thrilling 2-2 draw in normal time at Subaru Park on August 25.
After two games on the road, Chris Armas's side now return to the Dick's Sporting Goods Park, where they are unbeaten in each of their last eight matches, picking up six wins and two draws since a 3-2 defeat at the hands of San Jose Earthquakes on May 12.
Colorado Rapids have picked up 13 wins and five draws from their 27 MLS games so far to collect 44 points and sit fourth in the Western Conference standings, eight points adrift of first-placed Los Angeles Galaxy, albeit with one game in hand.
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Portland Timbers, on the other hand, returned to winning ways last time out as they edged out Seattle Sounders 1-0 when the two sides squared off at Providence Park.
Following a goalless first half, Colombian full-back Juan Mosquera finished off a well-worked team goal with a long-range belter to condemn Seattle to their ninth league defeat of the season and hand the hosts three huge points in their playoff push.
Prior to that, Portland saw their Leagues Cup journey come to an end in the round of 32 courtesy of a 3-1 defeat at the hands of St Louis City on August 10, two weeks before playing out a pulsating 4-4 stalemate with St Louis in the second of their two consecutive cup-and-league double-header.
Phil Neville's men have now picked up 11 wins and seven draws from their 27 MLS matches to collect 40 points and sit eighth in the West, one point off seventh-placed Houston Dynamo in the final automatic playoff spot and six points above Dallas just outside the play-in places.
While Saturday's visitors will be looking to continue from where they left off against Seattle and move into the top seven, they have lost each of their last three games on the road and are on a run of just two wins in their 12 MLS away matches since mid-March.
However, recent results against Colorado should give Portland Timbers plenty of optimism heading into the weekend as they are on a three-game winning streak between the sides and are unbeaten in their last five encounters since a 2-0 loss in May 2022.
Team News
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Having both hit the target against Dallas, Navarro and Yapi will sit out this weekend's matchup having crossed the yellow card threshold with their bookings at the Toyota Stadium.
Navarro, who had 13 goals and one assist in 27 league games, should be replaced by Omir Fernandez, while we should see an unchanged back four of Keegan Rosenberry, Lalas Abubakar, Andreas Maxso and Jackson Travis shielding Zack Steffen in goal.
On the injury front, Armas will be unable to call upon the services of Sam Vines and French forward Kevin Cabral, who are currently recuperating from hamstring and arm injuries respectively.
As for Portland Timbers, Canadian defender Zac McGraw missed the game against Seattle Sounders last time out through a leg injury and is a major doubt for this weekend's clash.
He is joined on the club's injury table by 27-year-old defender Marvin Loria, who has been sidelined since coming off with a knee problem in early August.
Colorado Rapids possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Rosenberry, Abubakar, Maxso, Travis; Ronan, Larraz; Harris, Mihailovic, Lewis; Fernandez
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; Mosquera, Zuparic, Miller, Bravo; Ayala, Chara; Moreno, Evander, Antony; Toye
We say: Colorado Rapids 2-1 Portland Timbers
With just four points separating the two sides in the conference table, we anticipate an end-to-end affair this weekend as both sides look to put together a string run of form entering into the season's run-in.
However, the Rapids have been tough to crack at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park this season and we are tipping them to snap their winless run against Neville's men.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
