New England Revolution vs. Portland Timbers | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New England Revolution vs. Portland Timbers
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 27
Gillette Stadium — Foxborough
Sept. 1 — 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Looking to snap an eight-match winless run and move closer to the playoff line in the Eastern Conference, the New England Revolution host a Portland Timbers side that ended a four-match losing streak Wednesday night with a 2-0 win over Toronto FC.

The Revs have dropped their last three games, including a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union last Saturday.

Five of the eight league meetings between New England and Portland have ended in draws, including four of the last five. The home team has yet to lose in this series, per Opta.

New England Revolution

New England (7-10-8) couldn’t make a move above the playoff line in the East, dropping a 1-0 decision to the Philadelphia Union Saturday night at Talen Energy Stadium.

Cory Burke scored the controversial only goal, putting the ball past Matt Turner despite the offside flag raised. The goal was upheld after Video Review and the Revs failed to score for a second straight defeat.

“They are a very good team, but also a streaky team,” Brad Friedel said of the Timbers on Tuesday. “They went on that unbeaten run of 15 and then it was four losses on the bounce. Hopefully they can do us a favor [against Toronto FC Wednesday night] and then hopefully we can do ourselves a favor on the weekend.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Kelyn Rowe, D - Antonio Delamea, M - Luis Caicedo
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Chris Tierney (torn ACL); QUESTIONABLE: F - Teal Bunbury (hamstring injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Matt Turner — Andrew Farrell, Jalil Anibaba, Michael Mancienne, Brandon Bye — Wilfried Zahibo, Cristhian Machado — Juan Agudelo, Luis Caicedo, Cristian Penilla — Diego Fagundez

Notes: Since the start of July, Matt Turner is third worst in the league in save percentage at 57.1 percent (min. 3 games played). … The Revolution are winless in eight games (6L-2D). They haven’t gone more than eight games without a win since going 10 winless between July and September 2012.

Portland Timbers

Portland (11-7-7) snapped a season-long four-match losing streak Wednesday night, defeating Toronto FC, 2-0, at Providence Park.

Diego Chara broke the tense stalemate in the 64th minute and David Guzman secured all three points with an 83rd-minute insurance goal.

“What we want to make sure that we have a fresh team to be able to play against New England,” Giovanni Savarese said. “It’s the last long travel that we have, so for us, it's important. New England is a very physical team, especially at home. We have to have a team that is fresh and ready to be able to compete.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Roy Miller (right thigh injury), GK - Jake Gleeson (bilateral tibia stress fracture surgery)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-2-1, right to left)
GK: Jeff Attinella — Alvas Powell, Julio Cascante, Liam Ridgewell, Zarek Valentin — Diego Chara, Lawrence Olum, Andy Polo — Diego Valeri, Sebastian Blanco — Samuel Armenteros

Notes: Jeff Attinella’s clean sheet on Wednesday was his seventh this season, tied for the fourth-most ever by a Portland keeper in a MLS campaign. … The Timbers snapped a four-game losing streak with their 2-0 home win against Toronto on Wednesday. However, they have won just one of their last five league road games (2L-2D).

All-Time Series

Overall: New England Revolution 1 win, 5 goals … Portland Timbers 2 wins, 9 goals … 5 draws
At New England: Revolution 1 win, 4 goals … Timbers 0 wins, 3 goals … 3 draws
Last meeting at New England: New England Revolution 1, Portland Timbers 1 (April 27, 2016)