Portland Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Sam Stejskal

Portland Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes
2017 MLS Regular Season
Providence Park – Portland, Ore.
Friday, June 2 – 11 pm ET
WATCH: UniMas, Facebook Live in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada

A pair of teams coming off of tough rivalry losses will square off at Providence Park on Friday night, when the Portland Timbers host the San Jose Earthquakes in a matchup of two teams separated by one point in the Western Conference.

Portland’s 1-0 loss at bitter rival Seattle on Sunday extended the Timbers’ winless run to five games. And while he was “salty” about two penalty denials at CenturyLink, Timbers head coach Caleb Porter was able to put a positive spin on things after his team’s loss in the Emerald City.

“It’s undeniable to me that we were the better team on the day,” Porter said after the match. “You look at every category, in terms of chances, possession, any metric you want to measure, we were the better team. It’s tough to swallow but it leaves you with a lot of optimism and hope moving forward.”

Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear, meanwhile, was less rosy after his team’s 4-2 home loss to the LA Galaxy on Saturday night. San Jose’s normally stingy defense was exposed against Giovani dos Santos, Romain Alessandrini and the Galaxy, something Kinnear acknowledged post-game.

“Our defending was passive and they took advantage of it,” he said. “We were disjointed.”

Portland Timbers

Portland’s current rough stretch, which truly began with a 3-0 loss at San Jose on May 6, has been defined by a lack of production in the attack. The Timbers have scored just two goals in their last four games, getting shutout by the Quakes and at Seattle last weekend.

Other than their two legitimate penalty shouts, Portland struggled in the attack on Saturday at Seattle. The absence of the suspended Diego Chara and the early injury substitution to David Guzman caused the Timbers some difficulty in linking the backline with the attack. That's where Fanendo Adi, Diego Valeri and Sebastian Blanco – who was visibly upset after getting subbed off in the second half – struggled to make any notable impact.

Those three will need to step up on Friday for the Timbers to snap their winless skid, especially without influential midfielder Darlington Nagbe, who will miss the match while on duty with the US men's national team.

Suspended: None
Int’l Duty: Darlington Nagbe (USA), Jeremy Ebobisse (US U-20)
Injury Report: OUT – D Gbenga Arokoyo (Achilles tear), D Chance Myers (hamstring), GK Jeff Attinella (hamstring), M Jack Barmby (ankle injury); QUESTIONABLE – F Darren Mattocks (adductor injury)

Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Jake Gleeson – Zarek Valentin, Liam Ridgewell, Roy Miller, Vytas – Diego Chara, David Guzman – Sebastian Blanco, Diego Valeri, Dairon Asprilla – Fanendo Adi

San Jose Earthquakes

San Jose have endured a bit of a roller coaster start to 2017. The Quakes have had trouble stringing together positive results, going 1-2-1 in their four matches since downing the Timbers 3-0 at Avaya Stadium. Their last two matches were a particularly stark contrast, with San Jose handing Dallas their first loss of the season at Toyota Stadium on May 20 before they were run ragged by the Galaxy at home on Saturday night.

They’ll also potentially be dealing with a good deal of absences on Friday. The Quakes have been hit hard by injuries this year, with regular starters Anibal Godoy and Fatai Alashe missing Saturday’s match against LA due to a hip and knee injury, respectively.

Suspended: None
Int’l Duty: Kip Colvey (New Zealand)
Injury Report: OUT – F Quincy Amarikwa (knee surgery), D Marvell Wynne (heart abnormality), M Marc Pelosi (left knee), D Harold Cummings (leg surgery), M Shea Salinas (knee), D Shaun Francis (hamstring), D/M Fatai Alashe (knee); QUESTIONABLE – M Anibal Godoy (hip injury)

Projected Lineup (4-3-3): David Bingham – Nick Lima, Florian Jungwirth, Victor Bernardez, Kofi Sarkodie – Darwin Ceren, Tommy Thompson, Jahmir Hyka – Chris Wondolowski, Marco Urena, Danny Hoesen

All-Time Series

Overall: San Jose 3 wins (19 goals), Portland 7 wins (24 goals), 7 draws
At Portland: San Jose 0 wins (7 goals), Portland 6 wins (16 goals), 3 draws