(8) Portland Timbers (10, 9, 4, 34 points) vs (10) Chicago Fire (8, 11, 6, 30 points)
Wednesday August 14, 2019 8:00 PM PST/ 11:00 PM EST
Providence Park, Portland, Oregon
Portland Timbers at a glance
Last Saturday’s match against the Vancouver Whitecaps, exposed the best game the Portland Timbers displayed with a fighting and persistent spirit that gave them a much deserve win.
Teamwork was the ideal ingredient for these determined Timbers, to raise with the win.
Still for manager Giovanni Savarese, was business as usual and the men with the bold moves in his lineup, his moves paid off with an important and much needed victory against a struggling but still fighting Caps.
However, the Portland side will play the majority of its games at home, being a bit pressured for them to come out on the positive and see another performance like Saturday, to possibly get them above the red line.
As every rival in turn, the Timbers are to play seriously and against the Men in Red coming with a number of weapons that can be challenging for them in the case of Basty.
For Gio Savarese is one man that can get his best strategies working and if you recalled in the Galaxy game, Julio Cascante raised to the occasion by stopping the likes of Ibrahimovic.
Come game time, the Portland Timbers will have its elite lineup in some players not being in the lineup due to a much needed rest, but in the end, these were not needed, as these Timbers bench has a lot of depth.
GK Steve Clark, Jorge Moreira, Larry’s Mabiala, Julio Cascante, Jorge Villafaña; Diego Chara, Renzo Zambrano; Jeremy Ebobisse, Diego Valeri, Sebastian Blanco; Brian Fernandez
Chicago Fire at a glance
For Chicago Fire manager Slaven Bilic, is one man looking forward to hand an upset against the Portland Timbers in Providence Park as well keep his side on the plus side.
On a match scheduled on midweek, Hump Day football MLS style will headline a contested match between these two sides and for Bilic and company they are ready to rock Rose City.
As a win on the road, for sure will uplift this side confidence, especially on a season the Windy City side has not been so positive on the road but one in Providence Park will be uplifting and a first.
The Fire currently in tenth place in the Eastern Conference and within striking distance of the red live by three points, for Bilic side the’ll be looking to be a handful to the Timbers defense.
One thing Chicago is looking for is to finish with a spot in the postseason after missing it with a not so notable 21 place finish and this season the Men in Red are ready for everything to earn a spot in the playoffs.
GK Kenneth Kronholm, Johan Kappelhof, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Francisco Calvo, Jonathan Bornstein; Brandt Bronico, Dax McCarty; Aleksandar Katai, Nicolas Gaitan, CJ Sapong; Nemanja Nikolic
Meetings
March 31, 2018 Chicago Fire 2-2 Portland Timbers
July 5, 2017 Portland Timbers 2-2 Chicago Fire
May 28, 2016 Chicago Fire 1-1 Portland Timbers
Prediction
The Portland Timbers overall favorite to win it by two goals
