(13) Vancouver Whitecaps (1,3,1, 4 points) vs. (12) Portland Timbers (1, 2, 3, 6 points)
Saturday April 9, 2022, KO 7:00 PM PST/ 10:00 PM EST
BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Portland Timbers Briefly
Defense wins games. This is something that the Portland Timbers lately haven’t been doing lately!
With the Galaxy in town last weekend, the likes of their superstar striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez delivered with a brace over the Timbers defensive backfield. It’s proof of the Timbers not delivering.
Despite moves performed by manager Giovanni Savarese, he hasn’t found the right formula to put his team in a winning mode, but there’s still time for the team to level its campaign with some much-needed adjustments.
For both Diego Chara and Cristhian Paredes, both players cannot perform miracles in the defensive midfield as this is a team effort that everyone in the field must contribute to for future successes in the 2022 season.
However, the team needs to really focus on delivering more excitement in its games and make them more filled with dynamism and played in both its halves entirely and not focus on just one half as they have been playing lately.
With a diamond or a traditional diamond 4-4-2 or a more modern 4-2-3-1 formation, nothing seems to work for Gio lately. The offensive game needs to step it up to become one feared crew in the remainder of the season.
This team needs to deliver results both at home and on the road to become that successful team that made us dream of another shield last year. In the Portland Boys I believe that they can turn things around.
A win on the road against their archrivals Vancouver can come with just a few traits: teamwork, ambition, and looking forward to becoming a winning machine. The Timbers need wins on the road to raise it into a positive state.
Probable Lineup:
GK Aljaz Ivacic, Josecarlos Van Rankin, Bill Tuiloma, Dario Zuparic, Claudio Bravo; Diego Chara, Cristhian Paredes; Santiago Moreno, Yimmi Chara, Dairon Aspirilla; Jaroslaw Niezgoda
Vancouver Whitecaps Briefly
The moves paid off for manager Vanni Sartini last week after making some moves in his starting eleven and results were very visible with a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City at home. This win couldn’t come at a better time for the Caps as they still are struggling in the overall table near the Western conference cellar.
For their first Cascadia Derby meeting, the Caps will show off an all-around momentum and looking to earn their second win of the season with a win over their south-of-the-border foes the Portland Timbers.
A team loaded with a lot of talent and most of all firepower, the need to see a continuance of their winning ways is imperative for this team’s success in the season and fight for the postseason spots.
So far, that win over SKC not playing their best football exposes the will of a team hungry to deliver a much-needed win in front of its fans and looking forward to adding a valuable win in the always celebrated Cascadia Cup.
Suddenly, the Village got its first win of the season they also saw their defensive game rise to the occasion as well netting their first clean sheet of the 2022 season and looking for more. Can they produce a second win against a hapless Portland side?
Probable Lineup:
GK Thomas Hasal, Tristan Blackmon, Ranko Veselonic, Jake Nerwinski; Javain Brown, Russell Teibert, Sebastian Berthalter, Ryan Raposo; Ryan Gauld; Deiber Caicedo, Ryan White
Meetings
10/20/2021 Portland Timbers 2-3 Vancouver Whitecaps
09/10/2021 Vancouver Whitecaps 0-1 Portland Timbers
04/18/2021 Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 Portland Timbers
Forecast
Will the Timbers shake off its road slump and deliver a much-needed win in BC Place?
Portland Timbers
