Portland Timbers vs. New England Revolution | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Simon Borg

Portland Timbers vs. New England Revolution
2017 MLS Regular Season - Week 5
Providence Park – Portland, Oregon
Sunday April 2 – 9 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN2, ESPN Deportes in USA; MLS LIVE in Canada

Sunday night's nationally-televised match promises to be an entertaining affair between two of the most talented attacking units in the league. While the New England Revolution are coming off a five-goal explosion in Week 4, the Portland Timbers have scored the most goals in MLS (12 goals in four matches) and their top scorer, Fanendo Adi, is one goal away from owning the club's all-time scoring record (Adi is tied with John Bain on 45 goals).

The Timbers, still the top team in MLS, will return to Providence Park with a full-strength lineup and a strong desire to make up for last week's 3-2 loss in Columbus. Meanwhile, the Revs are coming off their first win of the season against Minnesota as their talented group of attackers came to life with Juan Agudelo earning Alcatel MLS Player of the Week honors.

"You look at them last game and what they were capable of doing with that talent -- they're a tough matchup," Timbers head coach Caleb Porter said about New England. "You look at Juan Agudelo, Kei Kamara, Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe and Diego Fagundez... people talk about everyone's front five and they've talked about our [Timbers'] front six. But when I look at that front six, they've got to be in the conversation."

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Portland Timbers

The Timbers are expected to see the return of Darlington Nagbe (USA) and David Guzman (Costa Rica) from international duty and their possession play should help the club improve on last week's performance in Columbus, where they lost the possession percentage battle 65-34.

Suspended:None
Int’l Duty:None
Injury Report: OUT - DF Gbenga Arokoyo (Achilles tear); QUESTIONABLE - DF Liam Ridgewell (foot injury), DF Vytas Andriuskevicius (calf strain, day-to-day)

Projected starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Jake Gleeson – Alvas Powell, Lawrence Olum, Roy Miller, Zarek Valentin – David Guzman, Diego Chara – Sebastian Blanco, Diego Valeri, Darlington Nagbe – Fanendo Adi

Notes: Head coach Caleb Porter indicated that while left back Vytas was closer to a return than Liam Ridgewell, the Lithuanian's fitness will have to be evaluated on Friday and Saturday after spending three-and-a-half weeks on the sidelines. "Ridgewell has progressed as well, but looking unlikely for this weekend," Porter said at his weekly press conference. "We're hoping for the next several weeks."

New England Revolution

Were the Revolution that good or was it Minnesota United's defensive struggles that helped New England come away with that confidence-boosting 5-2 win last weekend? A potential answer to that question could be had in Week 5 against a talented Timbers side that is sure to test the new-look Revolution back line, which experienced a few shaky moments against the Loons.

Suspended: None
Int’l Duty: None
Injury Report:None

Projected starting XI (4-4-2 diamond, right to left): Cody Cropper – Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Benjamin Angoua, Chris Tierney – Scott Caldwell, Xavier Kouassi, Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez – Juan Agudelo, Kei Kamara

Notes: Given the five-goal outburst against Minnesota United, the Revs will likely want to give the Juan Agudelo-Kei Kamara forward pairing another look with Lee Nguyen in the No. 10 role ... Xavier Kouassi is available for selection again after sitting out last week against Minnesota United to recover from a foot injury.

All-Time Series

The New England Revolution have never won or scored at Providence Park, getting outscored 5-0 in three all-time matches there. The only result they were able to muster in Portland was a 0-0 draw on May 2, 2013.

Overall: Portland 2 wins (8 goals) … New England 1 win (4 goals) … Ties 4
At Portland: Portland 2 wins (5 goals) … New England 0 wins (0 goals) .. Ties 1