Sounders Prepare for Grudge Match Against Portland
By Ben Renner
The Sounders head into the 93rd installment of the Cascadia Cup with a full head of steam. Can they keep the momentum up against the Timbers?
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The Sounders-Timbers rivalry is the fiercest in MLS. 40 years of hatred boiling up and down the I-5 corridor puts every Seattle-Portland showdown in its own alternate reality. Historically, the Sounders have owned the Timbers, winning 48 of the first 92 games in the series, but Portland is riding a three-game unbeaten streak against their foes to the north.
The Sounders will enter Portland like a victorious army from the North storming King’s Landing.* After a mostly dreary season overall, the Sounders exploded against FC Dallas with a convincing 5-0 win. In other sports, especially football, a resounding blowout of a quality team is known as a “Statement Game.” The Sounders have made their statement, but can they continue their momentum in the first Cascadia Cup matchup of the year against Portland?
The Timbers will have their star striker Diego Valeri healthy again for the game tomorrow after Valeri missed three games with an ankle injury. Portland struggled without their prime goal scorer, only scoring one goal in those three games while looking mostly harmless in the attacking third.
The Sounders, meanwhile will be without their star striker Clint Dempsey, who is serving a one-game suspension after earning a red card in the Red Wedding-esque slaughter of Dallas. The Sounders have struggled to score goals all season, and losing their best creator, at least for himself, in the attacking third is not a good way to maintain the scoring onslaught we saw Wednesday. However, the Sounders will have captain Brad Evans back, and the midfield trio of Cristian Roldan, Osvaldo Alonso, and Erik Friberg has been as good as any at preventing midfield buildups. They will need all the help they can get against a newly healthy and rejuvenated Portland offense.
Get ready for another brutal rivalry game in downtown Portland, where those tattooed lumberjack types can’t wait to saw another log. The game starts at 12 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN.
Next: Bring Back the Old All-Star Game
*Sorry for the Game of Thrones references, I’m watching all the old episodes to tide me over until season seven. The North remembers!