The Portland Timbers return home Saturday for a matchup against Pacific Northwest Cascadia rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps (7:30 pm PT, ROOT SPORTS). The Timbers will be looking for their sixth straight home victory, which would be a MLS record for the club. Here are five numbers to know for #PORvVAN in the latest Quick Strikes by Simple.
41 Since his MLS debut in May 2014, forward Fanendo Adi is tied for fourth place for most non-penalty kick goals in MLS with 17. Adi has also had success against Cascadia Cup foes, scoring 41 percent of his league goals against Vancouver and Seattle.
2 In the midst of a tight race at the top of the Western Conference standings, the Timbers will look to use their home field advantage to propel them to the top of standings. Portland has lost just two regular-season matches (17-2-12) to Western Conference opponents since Caleb Porter became manager prior to the 2013 season.
21 No player in MLS has more blocks this season than Timbers defender Nat Borchers who is at 21. At his current pace, Borchers will finish the season having blocked 36 shots, which would be the most in a season since Opta started tracking MLS stats in 2011.
50 Having played six matches this season after recovering from a broken leg, Will Johnson has returned with a cross/corner accuracy of 50 percent (13 of 26), which is the highest percentage among the 174 players with more than 10 crosses/corners this season.
550 Saturday’s match will feature the two MLS clubs that have taken the most shots this season, with Portland leading the way with 278 shots followed by Vancouver’s 272 (550 combined). The clubs also lead the league for shots on target combining for a total of 194.
