Facing a quick turnaround, the Timbers face Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, August 30, at Providence Park. Kickoff is at 7:30pm PT, follow the match live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
As the 2023 MLS regular season heads into the final stretch, the Portland Timbers face Western Conference rivals Real Salt Lake on Aug. 30 at Providence Park – just four days after a hard-fought contest with Vancouver. It is the second of three matches in eight days for Portland, with six points up for grabs.
Portland (12th, 6-11-8, 26pts) looks to shake off last Saturday's defeat, and focus on the remaining nine matches in 2023. With just six points separating the Timbers from the final playoffs spot, Portland is aiming to pick up results.
Real Salt Lake (4th, 10-8-7, 37pts) comes into Providence Park with back-to-back defeats at the hands of Houston Dynamo FC in U.S. Open Cup and MLS play, and will be hungry for a result on the road. Freshly-arrived striker Cristian Arango is a player to watch as he's already tallied three goals and an assist in his first eight appearances across all competitions for RSL since arriving in the 2023 summer transfer window.
Here are some stats to know ahead of the midweek Western Conference showdown:
Undefeated since Defeated
Since Portland entered MLS in 2011, there have been a total of 31 regular-season meetings between the Timbers and Real Salt Lake. Of those 31 matches, 15 have been hosted by the Timbers, who have amassed a 6-2-7 all-time record at home against RSL. The last time Salt Lake left Goose Hollow with all three points in a regular-season match was back on July 19, 2017. In the five-plus years since, Portland is unbeaten at home against RSL, dominating their Utah counterparts on the scoresheet with a +10 goal differential over six regular-season matches (4-0-2).
668
Forward Felipe Mora patiently waited through 668 days of pain, recovery, and hard-work to be able to start another regular-season match for Portland last Saturday, his first start in Green-and-Gold since October 27, 2021. His efforts did not go unnoticed and the scoresheet reflects it – Mora scored his first goal of the season on Saturday. The strike marked his first MLS regular-season goal since July 17, 2022.
5
Portland has scored in five straight home matches, marking their longest streak of this season. It is also the longest streak since recording a goal in 12-straight regular-season matches at Providence Park, spanning two seasons from June 26, 2022 to March 12, 2023. Against Salt Lake, the Timbers have found the back of the net in eight of their last 10 home meetings.
15
With four players receiving assists in last Saturday's match, Portland now has 15 different providers on the 2023 stats sheet who have registered an assist. Santiago Moreno leads the way with seven, Sebastián Blanco recorded his first assist of the season, and Dairon Asprilla recorded his second to become the 10th player to record multiple assists for Portland in 2023. Asprilla has also now registered multiple assists in each of the last three MLS seasons.
