Sporting Kansas City's rich postseason history will be on display once again this year against a team which has to be incredibly revved up for arguably the biggest game in its history. The Portland Timbers are hoping for just their second home MLS playoff victory this Thursday against a team which they've had all sorts of problems with historically.
ODDS ANALYSIS
If there is a game where the lower seed is going to end up being the favorite, this is it. Sporting Kansas City has been portrayed as one of the better teams in the Western Conference all season long even though it had to fight all the way down to the last day of the season to get a coveted playoff spot.
That said, it would still be a bit of a surprise if this match was anything but close to a pick 'em when the odds open up later in the week, especially knowing that SKC only won four games on the road all season long.
KEY INJURIES
Portland has been blessed with good health for much of this season. Ben Zemanski is the only long-term absentee the club has had thanks to a torn ACL. Will Johnson is also up in the air for this duel with a leg injury.
Sporting Kansas City continues to have real question marks at the back. Ike Opara, Seth Sinovic and Amadou Dia are all very likely on the shelf for this game, especially with the short turnaround time from last Sunday. Roger Espinoza is back in training and could be an option in the midfield, though it'd be the first time he played an MLS game since August thanks to a foot fracture.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Three games ago, these guys were under pressure, and we were being questioned. And for good reason; we weren't getting the job done. But the players answered the call." – Portland manager Caleb Porter on his team's rise to the playoffs down the stretch
RECENT FORM
A month ago, these two teams met in this venue, a match Sporting Kansas City won 1-0. It was a sad day for Timbers fans, as they had to think their season was over with. Instead, Portland has stormed to three straight wins to not only lock up a playoff spot, but assure a home game as well in the postseason.
Meanwhile, SKC ran out its luck all the way to the last day of the season. The team lost a road match at San Jose on October 16 to put it in a lot of trouble against the only one of the contending teams to not get into the playoffs this year in the West. That wasn't the devastating blow, though. A 2-0 loss at home to lowly Colorado, one of the worst teams in the MLS was the real kill shot. However, to its credit, Sporting came up big when it had to by controlling the proceedings against the Galaxy on the final day of the regular season to lock up that postseason bid.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Things just don't look good for the Timbers as we see it. They haven't had a great history here in the second season, and guys like Fanendo Adi and Darlington Nagbe just aren't tested at this level.
Meanwhile, Sporting has a number of stars on its side, not the least of which is Dom Dwyer, who has really been on great display both for SKC and for Orlando City back when it was in USL Pro. If Dwyer, who has been in tip top form of late, can find the back of the net in this game as we suspect he will, KC will move on, sending the Timbers fans packing for the year.
Sporting Kansas City 2, Portland 1
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