NYCFC Travels to West Coast to Face Portland

David Villa is tied atop Major League Soccer’s goalscorer list with 7 goals thus far. (Photo courtesy of NYCFC).

After winning back-to-back games for the first time all season, including the first clean sheet of the season in a 2-0 win over DC United in its last time out, New York City FC will travel across the country to Portland to take on the defending Major League Soccer champions.

The Timbers are on the other end of the spectrum, entering the contest having lost two consecutive contests for the first time in the 2016 campaign, both by a score of 2-1.

If David Villa keeps up his form as of late, both sides will see their current trends continue following the match set for a 7 p.m. Eastern Time kick-off on Fox Sports 1. The Spanish striker, who leads the MLS with the same 7 goals as Portland’s Fanendo Adi and San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski, has scored 3 goals in the past two games, including a brace in NYCFC’s 3-2 win over Vancouver a pair of weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Adi has scored just once in the Timbers’ past four contests, a 2-1 win over Toronto FC.

With one point separating the teams entering the contest, their standings in their respective conferences are very different.

With 13 points in its first 10 matches, NYCFC currently stands at fourth in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, just one point behind with 12 in 11 contests, Portland sits at ninth — or second-to-last — in the Western Conference.

The clubs met at Yankee Stadium last season for their first and only ever meeting, which ended 1-0 in favor of the Timbers as Colombian winger Dairon Asprilla scored the game-winner in the 79th minute.

NYCFC will have a quick turnaround following the match, hosting Toronto FC for the second time this season on Wednesday before hosting rivals New York Red Bulls in the first Hudson River Derby of the season Saturday.

Projected Starting XI’s:

NYCFC: Saunders, Mattarrita, Brillant, Hernandez, White, Pirlo, Bravo, Lopez, McNamara, Lopez, Villa.

Portland: Gleeson, Valentin, Borchers, Ridgewell, Klute, Chara, Nagbe, Valeri, Melano,  Adi, Mattocks.