Portland Timbers vs. LAFC | 2020 MLS Match Preview

2020 MLS Regular Season – Week 19
Portland Timbers vs. LAFC
Providence Park – Portland
October 18– 10:00 PM ET

STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US; on DAZN in Canada

LOCAL TV: YouTube TV [LA region only], EstrellaTV 62, ROOT Sports NW

The Portland Timbers and LAFC are looking to rebound from Week 18 midweek defeats when the Western Conference foes meet Sunday night at Providence Park.

The Timbers (9W-5L-3D) had a five-match winning streak snapped when they fell 2-1 to Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium Wednesday night, while LAFC (7W-7L-3D) fell to the Whitecaps by the same scoreline at Providence Park. 

This is the third meeting this season with LAFC winning 4-2 at Banc of California Stadium Sept. 13 after the teams played to a 2-2 draw at the MLS is Back Tournament in July. 

Portland Timbers

The Timbers missed a golden opportunity to take sole possession of the top spot in the Western Conference as they saw their five-game winning streak halted by a 2-1 road loss to Real Salt Lake, who rode a pair of goals in the opening half hour to snap their own three-game losing streak.

Bill Tuiloma pulled Portland back a goal in the 77th minute and there was a wild scramble in front of goal moments later, but it didn't result in an equalizer. 

“First of all, we’re leaving from here not happy. We were looking to at least come out with a point, I mean three points is always what we want, but now we still have a few matches in front of us that we need to make sure that we capitalize on," Gio Savarese said after the match. "We have more home matches that we’ll have to take advantage of and now we’ll see who’s going to be the eleven that come and play next weekend. At least we have an extra day to rest, which is always a good thing, but nevertheless it’s a stress that’s going to be tough and we need to be prepared.”

• Updated team roster
• Injury Report:
  • OUT: Dairon Asprilla (M) - left knee injury
  • OUT: Blake Bodily (M) - right thigh injury
  • OUT: Sebastian Blanco (M) - right ACL injury
  • OUT: Julio Cascante (D) - left ankle injury
  • QUESTIONABLE: Jaroslaw Niezgoda (F) - right thigh injury
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty:  None

LAFC

LAFC were also done in by a poor opening 45 minutes, fell into a two-goal hole thanks to a Lucas Cavallini brace. They sliced their deficit in half with an Eduard Atuesta PK in the second half, but a late rally would fall short. 

"None of them played well enough," Bob Bradley said of his team's first half performance. "The first half was, from a football standpoint, from the whole team, wasn’t good and it wasn’t an easy half. There was no fluidity. Vancouver today played more off of long balls, off of second balls, so we really never got much going."

LAFC midfielder Latif Blessing is continuing to draw interest from Brazilian club Vasco da Gama, according to various reports, with a story from Football Ghana claiming a one-year loan with a purchase option has been agreed. Bradley called it "speculation."

• Updated team roster
• Injury Report:
  • OUT: Carlos Vela (F) - Grade 2 MLS sprain
  • OUT: Tristan Blackmon (D) - undisclosed injury
  • OUT: Mark-Anthony Kaye (M) - ankle injury
  • OUT: Andy Najar (D) - undisclosed injury
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty:  None

Series Matchup at Timbers

• Timbers: 1 win, 4 goals
• LAFC: 1 win, 4 goals
• 0 draws

Officials

• Referee: Allen Chapman
• Assistant Referees: Jeff Hosking, Chris Elliott
• 4th Official: Armando Villarreal
• VAR: Younes Marrakchi