The Major League Soccer returns to the fold this weekend when Portland Timbers welcomes Orlando City to Providence Park in the fifth game week of the campaign. Kickoff schedules for 27th March 2022 at 23:00 EAT.
After reaching the MLS Cup final last season, only missing out on the title after a penalty shootout, Portland Timbers had to settle for a steady start to the new campaign, playing out draws with New England Revolution and Los Angeles FC in their first two outings. With five points from their four matches so far, Portland will certainly not be overly pleased with their start and will aim to correct their form with a home victory at the weekend.
Portland Timbers prepare for this meeting off the back off 4-1 MLS defeat at the hands of FC Dallas in their previous game. In that match, Portland Timbers had 45% possession, one shot and the only one on target. The only player to score for Portland Timbers was Niezgoda (61′). For their opponents, FC Dallas got 8 attempts at goal with 6 of them on target. Ferreira (26′, 30′, and 36’) and Arriola (77′) scored for FC Dallas.
Meanwhile, The Lions enjoyed a winning start to the 2022 season, defeating CF Montreal 2-0 thanks to goals from Alexandre Pato and Benji Michel, before they were forced to settle for a point following a goalless stalemate with Chicago Fire. Orlando will be hoping they can make it back-to-back victories and put a decent winning run together to ensure they’re firmly in the mix at the top of the Eastern Conference.
The Lions heads into this fixture coming off 0-1 MLS success over Los Angeles Galaxy in their most recent match. In that game, Orlando City had 37% possession, six shots with two of them on target and a goal scored by Torres (9′). Los Angeles Galaxy got 20 shots with three of them on target.
Portland Timbers vs Orlando City head to head
These two sides have had six meetings against each other since 2015. Orlando City claims three wins, Orlando City two wins and they have drawn once.
- Portland 2-1 Orlando 12/08/20
- Portland 1-1 Orlando 19/07/19
- Orlando 3-2 Portland 08/04/18
- Portland 3-0 Orlando 25/09/17
- Orlando 4-1 Portland 04/04/16
Home
- Dallas 4-1 Portland
- Portland 1-0 Austin
- Los Angeles 1-1 Portland
- Portland 2-2 New England
- Portland 3-0 Salt Lake
Away
- LA Galaxy 0-1 Orlando
- Orlando 1-2 Cincinnati
- Chicago 0-0 Orlando
- Orlando 2-0 Montreal
- Orlando 3-1 Tampa Bay
Portland Timbers team news
For the hosts,Tega Ikoba, Felipe Mora, Eryk Williamson, Hunter Sulte and Cristhian Paredes all remain ruled out through injuries, while Bill Tuiloma is unavailable as he is on international duty for New Zealand.
Orlando City team news
The visitors are without fitness and suspension concerns; however, first-choice goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and defensive midfielder Sebas Mendez are on international duty for Peru and Ecuador respectively.
Prediction and odds
We predict a narrow win for Portland considering that Portland is unbeaten in their last two meetings with their Florida-based rivals while Orlando has scored just once in two away games this term.
- Portland Timbers win
- Draw
- Goals under 2.5
