(8) Portland Timbers (6,7,1, 19 points) vs (3) LA Galaxy (8,6,1, 25 points)
Friday July 30, 2021, 7:00 PM PST/ 10:00 PM EST
Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson California
Portland Timbers Briefly
Giovanni Savarese is one pensive man and looking forward to seeing his side return to the win column after that heartbreaking defeat in Minnesota last Saturday as the Loons staged a late comeback in the second half leaving the visiting Timbers astounded!
The need to get back to the positive is a must and imperative for this club’s confidence entering the month of August where the need to obtain positive results will be a must for the Rose City side.
Still, this team missing a couple of its most significant players from its starting eleven both being on international duty with their respective national teams. As soon as they are back incorporated with the team and ready, the Green and Gold will be seeing its starting eleven as unstoppable.
However, I won’t dare to put in the starting eleven the likes of Sebastian Blanco, but coming on as a substitute the man does one amazing job in the team’s latest strings of results ending with a win.
Hearing that Jaroslaw Niezgoda’s imminent return and the arrival of a new player somehow uplifts the panorama for these Timbers in need of a lot of help and mostly to step up its defensive game.
In the end, we have a squad in the Galaxy lacking important players and that can be the difference-maker but don’t count on it! Something tells me that this match can become one contested affair come this Friday.
Probable Lineup:
GK Steve Clark, Pablo Bonilla, Larry’s Mabiala, Dario Zuparic, Josecarlos Van Rankin; Diego Chara, Cristhian Paredes; Yimmy Chara, Diego Valeri, Jeremy Ebobisse; Felipe Mora
LA Galaxy Briefly
With notable players missing from the Galaxy lineup, manager Greg Vanney is not too happy with the latest string of results his side is experiencing.
His side endured a rout against a struggling FC Dallas side last weekend where FCD really exposed their defensive backfield, especially its top prospect Ricardo Pepi delivering with a hat trick.
With back-to-back games on the road, it’s back home for the Tinsel Town bunch looking forward to getting back into the win column and looking forward to shake off the mastery they have been experiencing lately from the Portland Timbers.
Despite some players are making a return from their international duties, manager Vanney is aware of getting the best of his bench from his young prospects and making them deliver favorable results.
Probable Lineup:
GK Jonathan Bond, Julian Araujo, Daniel Steres, Derrick Williams, Jorge Villafaña; Sasha Klejstan, Adam Saldaña, Rayan Raveloson; Samuel Grandsir, Victor Vazquez, Kevin Cabral
Meetings
05/22/2021 Portland Timbers 3-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
10/28/2020 Portland Timbers 5-2 Los Angeles Galaxy
10/07/2020 Los Angeles Galaxy 3-6 Portland Timbers
Line
No favorites here but as the Galaxy playing local has the edge over the Timbers
Portland Timbers
