Portland Timbers have kept back-to-back shutouts on the road in MLS and Phil Neville is hoping that continues when his side visit San Jose Earthquakes on Thursday.
The Timbers overcame Austin FC 2-0 before battling to a goalless draw on their trip to St. Louis City, with a 2-2 home draw coming against Houston Dynamo in between.
That run of form has helped Portland climb up to 10th in the Western Conference and the improvements have not gone unnoticed by head coach Neville.
"I'm seeing improvements in the whole team defensively, not just in the back four, but the defending starts from the front," the former Inter Miami boss said.
"I think, maybe, a month ago we wouldn't have kept that St. Louis clean sheet.
"They are throwing their bodies in the way, using smart play, game management and players are confident in what they are doing, so we are really pleased."
Neville still believes his side can develop further, however.
"[Against St. Louis] we had some moments to score some goals, it was the first time our forward players just didn't have that quality in the final third," Neville added.
"It was a good point, and we've had a rest to get ready for the next one."
The Earthquakes sit bottom of the West standings after a woeful season up to the midway point.
Luchi Gonzalez's side could soon jump off the bottom of the table, however, trailing Sporting Kansas City by just three points.
Yet San Jose will need a minor miracle to save this campaign.
They have conceded nine goals in their last two matches after a 5-1 thrashing by New York City FC followed a 4-2 home humbling by FC Cincinnati.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
San Jose Earthquakes – Jeremy Ebobisse
Jeremy Ebobisse has not scored in six MLS matches against the Timbers since being traded from Portland to San Jose in 2021.
Ebobisse has played more matches without scoring against just one other opponent in his MLS career, failing to find the net in 11 career meetings with Minnesota United.
Portland Timbers – Evander
Evander remains Neville's go-to player in the Portland attack.
The Brazilian has seven goals and as many assists, with no team-mate able to match his 14 direct goal contributions this year in MLS.
MATCH PREDICTION – PORTLAND TIMBERS WIN
The Opta supercomputer struggled to split these two sides, yet Portland appear the favourites for a narrow victory considering recent form and their head-to-head record.
The Timbers have won three straight matches against San Jose in all competitions, their fifth three-match winning streak over the Earthquakes.
However, they have never won four in a row against San Jose – who head into this clash in terrible form.
The Earthquakes have lost 12 of 17 matches this year and their 11 points are tied for the third-fewest at the halfway point of a season since MLS expanded to a 34-game schedule in 2011 (D.C. United – nine in 2013, Toronto FC – 10 in 2012).
Portland have also only lost one of their last six matches, recording 11 points in those games (W3 D2), including going unbeaten in a season-high four straight (W2 D2).
The Timbers have more points in those six matches than they had in their first 12 this season (10 – W2 D4 L6) and will hope to continue that run here.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
San Jose Earthquakes – 35.2%
Portland Timbers – 38.9%
Draw – 26%
Chicago Fire v Toronto FC: Herdman hoping to change Reds’ playoff story
Toronto FC head coach John Herdman has said his side must rediscover their clinical edge upon their MLS return after their Canadian Championship final defeat in midweek.
The Reds were beaten by the Vancouver Whitecaps on penalties after a goalless encounter, with goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer proving to be the hero, making seven saves on the night.
But Herdman was left ruing those missed opportunities as the Whitecaps claimed their third-straight title, insisting his players must respond against the Chicago Fire this weekend.
“We are just not clinical at the moment,” Herdman said. “It’s been a couple games where we’ve been right there knocking on the door but just haven’t been able to find that killer moment or we found a keeper that’s standing on his head.
“That’s the story of TFC at the moment. We’re in the playoff hunt.
“As I said in the dressing room, all I asked is the team showed up, and they did. They have to show up again on Saturday. That’s their next task.”
Chicago, meanwhile, were condemned to back-to-back defeats in the MLS, going down 2-0 to CF Montreal in their last encounter at the Stade Saputo.
That defeat, the Fire’s 16th of the season, leaves them 14th in the Eastern Conference standings, ending their hopes of reaching the playoffs this year.
But with two of their remaining three regular-season fixtures at the SeatGeek Stadium, head coach Frank Klopas has asked his players to give supporters something to cheer after a disappointing campaign.
“We need to finish strong. We need to fight and compete all the way to the end. As long as we have games in front of us, we are professionals and need to play,” Klopas said.
“We need to do our job. We have two home games and regardless of what happens, it’s important, and I have stressed it to the team to finish strongly at home.
“I know it has not been a season with a lot of great moments, but we need to do whatever we can to finish on a positive note and leave a good picture, especially at home.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chicago Fire –Brian Gutierrez
In the absence of top scorer Hugo Cuypers, Gutierrez will be the man tasked with providing the Fire with an attacking spark at the SeatGeek Stadium.
The American notched an assist in their 4-1 win over Toronto earlier in the season, winning three of his five matches against this weekend’s opponents (D1 L1).
Toronto FC – Jonathan Osorio
Osorio has scored six goals against the Fire, his most against any MLS opponent.
However, he hasn’t scored against the Fire since 2019, failing to find the back of the net in his last five appearances against Chicago.
MATCH PREDICTION: CHICAGO FIRE WIN
The Fire have won three of their last four matches against Toronto, including the last two in a row. Prior to the last four meetings, Toronto were unbeaten in 14 straight matches against Chicago (W11 D3).
However, Herdman’s side have lost seven of their last nine matches in all competitions (D1 L1), including the last two in a row. This is the sixth different losing streak of at least two matches for the Fire this season.
Toronto’s 2-0 loss at the Colorado Rapids last Saturday was their 45th regular season road loss since the start of the 2021 season, four more than any other MLS team in that time (Chicago - 41).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Chicago Fire – 48%
Draw – 26%
Toronto FC – 26%
St. Louis City v Sporting Kansas City: This rivalry is important to MLS, says Hackworth
John Hackworth believes St. Louis City's derby with Sporting Kansas City is key to MLS as they resume their rivalry on Saturday.
The last two meetings between the sides have finished level, with both ending in dramatic fashion.
St. Louis City come into the latest edition having lost just one of their last six outings, though that was their last home match.
They sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Sporting above them, and Hackworth is now keen to build on the momentum from their win over San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.
"We talked about trying to finish these last five games with a lot of momentum, showing our fans what we were capable of," Hackworth said.
"We knew we had to go on the road in one of these three games and be successful, and now we just need to build on that.
"This rivalry is really important to our league. It's two teams who are going to go after it and play by their principles, leaving it all out there to see what happens - two dramatic draws set us up for this contest."
Meanwhile, Kansas City have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday.
Head coach Peter Vermes was left disappointed by the result but believes there are positives to take from the performance.
"I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into that game," Vermes said.
"It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed. We had good responses in that game, but in the end, we fell short."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert scored in the fourth minute in each of St. Louis City's last two matches.
Teuchert is one of six players to score more than one goal in the opening four minutes of matches this season and the second to do so in consecutive matches (Mikael Uhre).
Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia
Both goals Sporting Kansas City conceded in their loss to Minnesota United on Saturday came in the final 30 minutes.
Sporting have allowed 31 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season, only San Jose (33) has allowed more, and Tim Melia will be hoping his concentration levels can improve ahead of Saturday's match.
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have lost only two of their last 10 matches in all competitions (W4 D4), including picking up a 2-1 win at San Jose on Saturday. St. Louis have not won two straight matches in all competitions since wins over Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City last September.
Sporting have lost 10 of their last 12 regular-season away matches, including a 2-0 loss in Seattle in their last league road match. Only league-worst San Jose (11) have lost more away matches this season than Sporting (10).
However, Kansas City are unbeaten in four straight meetings with St. Louis (W2 D2) after St. Louis won two of the first three encounters. This will be the eighth meeting between St. Louis and Kansas City, totaling 10.4 % (8/77) of all of St. Louis' games in all competitions up to this point.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 43.4%
Draw – 26.7%
Sporting Kansas City – 29.9%
Crystal Palace 0-7 Chelsea: Blues run riot to keep Bompastor perfect
Sonia Bompastor maintained her perfect start to life as Chelsea head coach as her side turned on the style in the second half to beat Crystal Palace 7-0 on Friday.
After Lauren James saw a goal ruled out, the Blues found their breakthrough in the 38th minute as Agnes Beever-Jones turned home Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's delivery.
Lucy Bronze handed the visitors the perfect start to the second half, guiding a strike into the far corner for her first Chelsea goal since her move from Barcelona.
The result was put beyond doubt just before the hour-mark as James finally got her name on the scoresheet, opening her account for the season from close range.
But the Blues were not done there. Guro Reiten struck beyond Shae Yanez for Chelsea's fourth, with Catarina Macario's corner then finished by Nathalie Bjorn.
Reiten notched her second in the 90th minute, with Macario adding gloss to an impressive showing from the defending champions as she capitalised on Yanez's parry to compound the newly-promoted Eagles to a second defeat of the season.
Data Debrief: Ruthless Blues clip Eagles' wings
After a battling display against Aston Villa on the opening day, Bompastor's side showcased the attacking ruthlessness that was missing a week ago.
James was a particular standout for the Blues, registering a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 0.95 to Chelsea's 2.47 total from her four shots during the encounter.
Chelsea ended the contest with 24 shots, 11 of which were on target, completing 56 touches inside the opposition's box compared to Palace's 12.
But for all of their attacking brilliance, Chelsea have now kept a clean sheet in each of their last five games in the Women's Super League. Their last longer run of games without conceding a goal in the competition was a run of six matches between February and April in 2021.
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