Starting XI & Game Preview: Portland Timbers vs Colorado Rapids

The Colorado Rapids have had an unpredictable season thus far. The losses, the firing, the win streak, the snow, the lightning and rain—all of it unforeseen. And today, the Rapids travel to another West Coast location where they have struggled in the past: Portland. Colorado have won just once in the Rose City and I was lucky enough to be in the stadium that day. It’s been eight long years since that 1-0 win.

Providence Park is still a tough place to play, especially when you have more than 20K fans cheering and singing in unison. It can be intimidating.

The Rapids do have a coach and a handful of players who are veterans of the league and are familiar with certain stadiums, which has had an impact on away results. Although the Rapids are 1-5-2 away from home, the win and two ties came after the club let Anthony Hudson go.

As for who the Burgundy Boys will put on the pitch tonight, there may be a couple shake-ups. On the injury front, it’s the same as last week, Kortne Ford and Deklan Wynne are out, while Jack Price remains questionable with that foot issue that saw him leave the game early two weeks ago.

Kellyn Acosta is also out today thanks to a second yellow in last week’s game (although he would’ve been out on yellow card accumulation with the first one anyway). On the plus side, Jonathan Lewis is back from international duty and is expected to start.

The Timbers have five guys listed as questionable, most notably defender Jorge Villafaña.

Starting XI: Tim Howard, Keegan Rosenberry, Tommy Smith, Lalas Abubakar, Sam Vines, Danny Wilson, Cole Bassett, Jonathan Lewis, Diego Rubio, Andre Shinyashiki, Kei Kamara

Officials

Referee: Kevin Stott

Assistant Referees: Jose Da Silva, Chris Elliott

4th Official: Matt Franz

VAR: Ricardo Salazar

Colorado

OUT: Kortne Ford (knee), Deklan Wynne (foot)

QUESTIONABLE: Jack Price (foot)

Suspended: Kellyn Acosta

Suspended after next caution: Danny Wilson, Diego Rubio, Jack Price

Portland

OUT: None

QUESTIONABLE: Bill Tuiloma (right thigh), Jorge Villafaña (left thigh), Aljaz Ivacic (neck), Jeff Attinella (right shoulder), Modou Jadama (right lower leg)

Suspended: none

Suspended after next caution: Diego Chara

How to Watch

Match Date/Time: Saturday, July 13th at 9 p.m. MST

Venue: Providence Park—Portland, OR

TV Information: AltitudeTV

Radio: 92.5 FM

Live Stream: ESPN+ (subscription required)

C38 Watch Party: Celtic on Market (main viewing party), Frolic Brewing, Blue Spruce Brewing