Lions to blunt Timbers at Providence Park
Portland Timbers welcome Orlando City to Providence Park in a cross-conference affair on Sunday evening.
Neither side have been sparkling since the 2022 MLS season kicked off but most sides are feeling their way into the campaign, and the competition is very evenly matched as it is anyway.
The Timbers made it all the way to the final in 2021, losing out to New York City FC on penalties but an impressive season nonetheless, where Orlando City were knocked out in the first round of the play-offs.
Despite the Lions pulling off the stronger results so far, the Timbers are strong favourites with home advantage and will be hoping to kickstart their season with a comfortable victory.
Background
The Timbers have picked up five points from their opening four matches in the Western Conference, playing out score draws with New England Revolution and Los Angeles FC before edging past Austin FC before a humbling 4-1 defeat at FC Dallas last time out.
Yimmi Chara got himself on the scoresheet in the opening two matches and could pose a threat at the top of the pitch, looking to continue his fruitful start to the season.
The Lions have not been as entertaining as the Timbers, goal wise, and may look to sit back and contain a little on their travels, wary of the form that the hosts showed towards the back end of the 2021 campaign.
Orlando City have won two, drawn one and lost one, also being defeated in their last match, a 1-0 loss at LA Galaxy, they have only scored three goals in four games so far, so you can understand why it has been important for them to stay solid defensively.
Alexandre Pato is the big name on the team sheet, the Brazilian striker will be hoping to make his presence known at Providence Park, and net his first goal since the opening game of the season, a 2-0 win over CF Montreal.
Angle
MLS can be volatile at the best of times, but even more so at the beginning of the campaign where the teams are gelling and are yet to give us a large enough sample size to take some stances and draw conclusions.
Orlando City certainly look to be trying to gain a foothold in a match before springing out in the final third, and that could serve them well on their travels, particularly as outsiders in a cross-conference clash.
Unders is the way to go for me, the Timbers have not been at their electric best and will be looking to shore up at the back after the 4-1 defeat to FC Dallas.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
1-1, we take the win in our dip into MLS.