Portland Timbers vs. D.C. United
2017 MLS Regular Season - Week 32
Providence Park – Portland, Ore.
Sunday, October 15 – 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: MLS LIVE
The Portland Timbers are aiming to wrap up a playoff berth with a win against D.C. United on Sunday and put themselves in position to potentially fight for the No. 1 seed in the West on Decision Day against Vancouver.
Although a loss or tie can also allow the Timbers to book their postseason ticket (pending other results), Caleb Porter's men will like their chances to take care of business themselves given their recent home form (four straight wins at Providence Park).
The team will also hope the matchup against the last-place team in the Eastern Conference will give MVP candidate Diego Valeri a chance to continue to make an impression on voters, who will be filling their award ballots next week. He also needs a goal to catch MLS top scorer Nemanja Nikolic with one week remaining in the race for the Golden Boot.
Meanwhile, D.C. United (1W-3L-1D in their last five) are hoping to end the 2017 season on a positive note with a big final week on tap during which they'll say goodbye to RFK Stadium against rivals New York Red Bulls.
"It's going to be a tough match, I'm sure they're not going to give it to us easy," said Timbers captain Liam Ridgewell. "But like we've said all season, it's just about us. As long as we concentrate on what we do and we play as well as we know we can, no one can stand in our way toward the end of the regular season."
Portland Timbers
- Suspended:None
- Suspended after next caution: MF Sebastian Blanco
- International Duty:None
- On Loan:None
- Injury Report: OUT – DF Gbenga Arokoyo (Achilles), DF Chance Myers (ankle); QUESTIONABLE – Fanendo Adi (hamstring)
Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Jeff Attinella — Alvas Powell, Larrys Mabiala, Liam Ridgewell, Roy Miller — Diego Chara, David Guzman — Darlington Nagbe, Diego Valeri, Sebastian Blanco — Darren Mattocks
D.C. United
- Suspended:None
- Suspended after next caution: MF Lloyd Sam, MF Marcelo Sarvas
- International Duty:None
- On Loan:None
- Injury Report: OUT — DF Taylor Kemp (hip), MF Patrick Nyarko (concussion), MF Rob Vincent (knee)
Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, left to right): Steve Clark — Nick DeLeon, Kofi Opare, Steve Birnbaum, Sean Franklin — Russell Canouse, Marcelo Sarvas — Zoltan Stieber, Lucho Acosta, Paul Arriola — Deshorn Brown
All-Time Series
Portland and D.C. have faced off once every season since 2012 and Sunday represents their first and only meeting of 2017. In their last matchup in August 2016, DC handed the Timbers a 2-0 loss at RFK Stadium.
- Overall: Portland 3W-2L-2D (10 GF, 9 GA) … DC 2W-3L-2D (9 GF, 10 GA)
- At POR: Portland 2W-1L-1D (7 GF, 6 GA) … DC 1W-2L-1D (6 GF, 7 GA)
Officials
Referee: Mark Geiger
Assistant Referees: Logan Brown, Jeffrey Greeson
4th Official: Ricardo Salazar
Video Assistant Referee (VAR): Fotis Bazakos
