The opening fixture of this weekend’s action in Major League Soccer sees Portland Timbers host New York Red Bulls at Providence Park, Oregon. Portland Timbers come into this match on the back of a heavy 4-1 defeat at Toronto last weekend and will be aiming to bounce back with a win. They currently sit 5th in the Western Conference and while this may be mid-table, they are just 3 points off the leaders, Houston Dynamo.
In fact, just 6 points separates 1st and 7th in the Western Conference and there is all to play for towards the end of the regular season. New York Red Bulls are 4th in the Eastern Conference but despite being higher in their Conference than Portland, are further adrift of the leaders and sit 9 points behind Toronto.
Portland Timbers Form
Portland went down 4-1 at Toronto last weekend and while they were expected to lose the game, they were very disappointed to lose by such a significant margin.
That was Portland’s first defeat in 4 MLS games having defeated Vancouver Whitecaps and LA Galaxy and picked up a point at Houston Dynamo. While Portland have scored at least one goal in each of their last 13 competitive games, they have conceded a goal in each of their last 11.
At home in the MLS, Portland have lost only 2 games this season and just 1 of their last 8 at Providence Park. However, they have won 1 of their last 4 and need to find some consistency to move up the Western Conference.
New York Red Bulls Form
New York Red Bulls required extra-time in mid-week to defeat Cincinnati in the US Open Cup semi-final and several players will be struggling to be fit for this game having played on Wednesday night.
That win was New York Red Bull’s 8th in their last 9 competitive games and they are on a good run of form. The only defeat in those 9 games came two weeks ago in the New York derby.
New York Red Bulls have been scoring plenty of goals, netting 2 or more in each of their last 6 competitive games. They scored an average of 3.3 goals per game over the course of those 6 matches.
New York Red Bulls suffered a run of 6 straight defeats away from home in the MLS earlier this season but have since won 3 of their last 4 away games.
Team News
Portland Timbers are without the injured trio of Gbenga Arokoyo, Chance Myers and Marco Farfan. Liam Ridgewell, Fanendo Adi and Jake Gleeson are doubtful.
Gideon Baah, Mike Grella, Daniel Royer and Muhamed Keita are all out for New York Bulls.
Top Betting Tips
New York Red Bulls have started to pick up wins away from home but their match on Wednesday night plus the travelling to this game could take its toll on the players. Portland are not in great form but could easily pick up a point from this match. The draw is 14/5 with Ladbrokes.
Considering the numbers of goals scored and conceded by Portland Timbers and New York Red Bull’s own scoring record, we should see goals in this game. The draw and both teams to score is 10/3 with Ladbrokes.
Diego Valeri has scored in each of his last 3 MLS games for Portland Timbers and can be backed at 6/1 with Ladbrokes to get the first goal of this game.