Portland Timbers – LA Galaxy : Players who will be missed on both sides
The Portland Timbers are considered the most relevant team in their city, with a history dating back to the mid-1970s. They have been dubbed “Soccer City, USA” long before joining MLS as an expansion team 12 years ago.
Timbers fans have made Providence Park the most challenging away trip in the league for opponents, with the stands always packed. However, the team missed the playoffs last year and is off to a rough start in 2023, losing three games in a row since their opening match. They will face the LA Galaxy on Saturday, which feels like a must-win game for the hosts.
The match falls during a weekend reserved by FIFA for international games, which could help Portland. While they will be without Colombian defender Juan David Mosquera, the Galaxy will be missing four players, including starters Dejan Joveljić and Kelvin Leerdam.
The Timbers will still have to stop the bleeding defensively, having conceded ten goals over their losing streak, equaling the club’s most porous three-game stretch ever. On the other end of the field, they must be more clinical.
Slow starts are not always fatal in MLS, as the Timbers have had three or fewer points through their first four matches in 2015, 2018, and 2021, but they reached MLS Cup each year. Timbers midfielder Eryk Williamson said that dropping three games is not ideal, but it’s a long season, and they will always fight back.
In other MLS news, Thiago Almada is the early favorite for the most valuable player award, assuming Atlanta United can hold onto him until the end of the MLS season.
He scored twice against the Timbers before leaving for Buenos Aires, where he celebrated Argentina’s title in Qatar by scoring his first international goal for the Albiceleste in a 2-0 stroll over Panama.
Almada is among seven Atlanta United players who are unavailable for Saturday’s trip to Columbus because of international duty. SKC is the only MLS club not to have any of its players summoned to a national team this month.
