Preview: Sporting Kansas City vs. Portland Timbers - prediction, team news, lineups

Sporting Kansas City will hope to maintain their first-place standing in the Western Conference when they welcome the Portland Timbers to Children's Mercy Park on Wednesday.

The Wizards blanked Dallas 2-0 this past weekend, while the Timbers are clinging to the final playoff spot in the conference after suffering a 6-2 defeat to the Seattle Sounders.

Match preview

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We saw a very different Kansas City side take the field on Saturday in Dallas than the one who played in their Leagues Cup collapse last Tuesday as KC extended its unbeaten run to three games in MLS.

Peter Vermes made eight changes to the starting 11 versus the Toros from their 6-1 defeat to Leon, but it was not just the players that were different on Saturday, but the performance as a whole was much more what we are used to seeing from the current leaders in the Western Conference.

KC fired six shots on target while only conceding two themselves as they collected a second successive clean sheet in MLS play and remain on pace to eclipse their best-ever regular-season points total, which came back in 2012 when they earned 63 points.

Technically speaking, this group of players are among the best in MLS, and they continue to improve in some areas, such as pass accuracy where they were clicking at 87% this past weekend, which is slightly better than their average heading into that match, which was 85.2%, the second-best in MLS.

They have had two uncharacteristically bad performances at home recently, as essentially their second team fell 6-1 in the Leagues Cup and before that, they dropped a 2-1 decision to Dallas in front of their home fans.

With the Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy breathing down their neck, only one and two points behind KC, respectively, the Wizards will need to keep winning to maintain their position, as their next three games will be against teams who are currently in a playoff position.

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Sunday was not the best of days for the Portland Timbers, who were stymied by some outstanding goalkeeping from Stefan Cleveland and a Sounders side in the mood for goals.

The 6-2 defeat was the worst loss that this team have suffered since dropping a 4-0 decision to the New York Red Bulls in 2018, and it is the most goals they have ever conceded in a single regular-season match.

After a loss like that, Giovanni Savarese will hope that his team can only go up from there, as they are only just in the playoffs at the moment on goal difference.

The MLS is Back Tournament winners need to buckle down and come together as a team over the next few weeks with only two points separating them in seventh from Dallas, who are 10th.

Wednesday is the first match on their five-game road trip, and playing away from home has been a significant challenge for this team, who have been decimated by injuries all season long.

Portland are winless in their last five road fixtures and have been outscored 15-5 over that stretch, winning only one game away from home this season.

Team News

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Daniel Salloi scored his 11th goal of the season on Saturday and is tied for the MLS lead in combined goals with six assists to go along with his tallies, while his teammate Alan Pulido notched his eighth goal of the year as he now has 21 combined goals in 21 starts since the beginning of the 2020 campaign.

Felipe Hernandez is still unavailable for personal reasons, Jaylin Lindsey and Nicolas Isimat-Mirin are out with hamstring problems and Khiry Shelton is questionable with abdominal pain.

Roger Espinoza and Luis Martins are the only players on the KC roster to appear in every one of their 19 regular season matches in 2021.

Jaroslaw Niezgoda made his first appearance of the year for the Timbers this past weekend, coming on as a late second-half substitute, while George Fochive scored his first career MLS goal and Sebastian Blanco got his first goal of the season in his first start of the year.

Steve Clark was an unused substitute on Sunday as he continues to struggle with a right thigh injury, Ismaila Jome is recovering from left Achilles tendon surgery, Jeff Attinella is gone for the year after undergoing season-ending right rectus femoris surgery, Andy Polo underwent season-ending right quad and knee surgery and Eryk Williamson remains sidelined due to health and safety protocols.

Dairon Asprilla, Josecarlos Van Rankin and Diego Valeri are the only Portland players to appear in all 18 regular season matches for the Timbers this year.

Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Martins, Fontas, Puncec, Rad; Duke, Espinoza, Walter; Salloi, Pulido, Russell

Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Van Rankin, Tuiloma, Zuparic, Bravo; D. Chara, Paredes, Y. Chara, Valeri; Mora, Asprilla

We say: Sporting Kansas City 1-0 Portland Timbers

After an embarrassing defeat over the weekend, the Timbers will have something to prove in this game, but unfortunately for them, they do not have the personnel at the moment who can shut down one of the most balanced attacks in MLS.