After consecutive 0-0 draws at Colorado and the New York Red Bulls, the Portland Timbers return to Providence Park for their longest and most important homestand of the season. First up? A Wednesday night clash with the Montreal Impact (7:30 PM, TV on ROOT Sports).
The History
It's been more than a year since Portland and Montreal last played, but more than three years since the teams last met in the Rose City. That matchup, on the second weekend of the 2013 season, marked Troy Perkins' return to Portland after the goalkeeper was controversially traded for Donovan Ricketts midway through the 2012 campaign.
The Impact won that match 2-1 with Hassoun Camara scoring a bicycle in the first half. 2014's meeting was also about a player who had switched sides, as Futty Danso's Montreal debut was marred by an own goal that cost his team a 3-2 decision in driving rain at Stade Saputo. Futty's MLS career would never recover.
Last season's meeting in early May in Montreal was won 2-1 by the Timbers, with Nat Borchers on the scoresheet and Diego Valeri scoring his first goal after returning from his ACL tear. The first ever meeting between the club's was won 2-0 by Montreal at the Olympic Stadium in the spring of 2012.
Portland and Montreal's best history came before the two clubs were in MLS, but Wednesday nights game is one of the most important ever between these two teams — with both in playoff races and boasting teams capable of winning MLS Cup.
The Tactics
The Timbers lost Darren Mattocks to a hamstring injury just 30 seconds into their game against New York on Sunday, and he's unlikely to be available to face Montreal. Diego Chara, suspended for yellow card accumulation, is out as well.
Those absences will force creativity out of Caleb Porter, who is still waiting on the fitness of Diego Valeri. The maestro has missed the last two games due to a knock picked up in the US Open Cup game against LA two weeks ago.
The like-for-like replacement for Chara is Jack Jewsbury, but Porter could also play the 4-3-3 that was so successful down the stretch last year with Ben Zemanski as the pivot and Nagbe with Ned Grabavoy supporting him centrally.
If Valeri is fit, he'll take Mattocks' place in the team. If he's not, Grabavoy — most likely playing tucked in on the wing — or Jack Barmby are options. Jack McInerney excelled when forced to play wide this year, but his minutes have been limited of late.
Defensively, the team should be unchanged, with Zarek Valentin at left back and Jake Gleeson — named to the MLS Team of the Week for his display against the Red Bulls — in goal.
The Impact will be without Didier Drogba, who is injured, but they do have the reigning MLS Defender of the Year Laurent Ciman back from Euro 2016. Montreal played at Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, drawing 1-1.
The Lineup
90 - Gleeson
2 - Powell
24 - Ridgewell (C)
7 - Borchers
16 - Valentin
14 - Zemanski
6 - Nagbe
10 - Grabavoy
8 - Valeri
26 - Melano
9 - Adi
The Pick
Portland's defense has been excellent recently, but the Impact's attack will provide a stiffer test than Colorado or the Red Bulls did. This time around, it'll be the offense that carries the day. 3-1 Portland.