(6) Portland Timbers (11,11,9, 42 points) vs (13) LA Galaxy (8,11,10, 34 points)
Saturday September 30, 2023 KO 7:39 PM PST/ 10:39 PM EST
Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California
Portland Timbers Briefly
This team is for real. They managed to make that desired turnaround and are now seeded in the coveted postseason spots in sixth place with three matches left in the season and closing at home against the Houston Dynamo for the final match of the season.
Going to Dignity Health Sports Park, the Timbers are looking for a showdown between them and the low flying Galaxy that’s looking at any cost to try to salvage its campaign with a pass to the playoffs.
No room for error as well the team regained its belief and confidence to play comfortably on the road as they did it against Austin FC, getting a good result as visitors.
With manager Miles Joseph giving the team its positivity back and showing off with a whopping record of 5 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw, the man is fulfilling the goals established ever since taking over the team when he was appointed as an interim manager.
Two matches on the road against the LA Galaxy and later CF Montreal putting the team on a tough test as well with the need to win both of these matches to close with a perfect record.
Still, it’s one game at a time as manager Joseph is putting this team mentality and making it as an all-around challenge in the remainder of this season being in its last agonizing stages.
However, the team cannot get too comfortable or lay its guard down as anything can happen and with their game against the Galaxy, somehow, I see a repeat of last weekend match that the Green and Gold labor to get the win against a feisty playing Rapids.
The Galaxy will be playing like everything is on the line and will develop a stingy defensive game alongside a very hard attack to get the three points and still be in the race for a last postseason spot.
My conclusion is that the upcoming game back in Carson, California will be a very contested affair between these two sides looking at any cost to deliver a hard-earned win, as the Timbers cannot underestimate the Galaxy.
Photo courtesy of the LA Galaxy
LA Galaxy Briefly
This season wasn’t supposed to be a disastrous one for Galaxy manager Greg Vanney after seeing his side posting a very mediocre campaign and not even making it into the playoffs.
Is it time to clean house or what kind of superstar this team will try to bring and reinforce the ranks after the team following had some protests of this team’s performances early in the season and missing again the postseason?
Something needs to be done at Dignity Health Sports Park as this team isn’t accustomed to losing as well having a sort of winning pedigree and not fulfilling it for quite sometime and for their die-hard followers losing their patience.
Fo back-to-back campaigns and with an arsenal of weapons in its attack, the team has plagued with a number of notable players injured making it difficult for Greg Vanney to mount a winning campaign.
My conclusion will be for this team to be hard at work and find the ideal players to turn this club around as an all-around winner, but in the end, these will be back to the drawing board.
Meetings
03/25/2023 Portland Timbers 0-0 LA Galaxy
06/18/2022 LA Galaxy 1-1 Portland Timbers
04/03/2022 Portland Timbers 1-3 LA Galaxy
Forecast
Can the streak continue on the road against a struggling Galaxy?
Portland Timbers
LA Galaxy
