Fragile Portland Timbers set for another defeat

MLS
Live on Sky Sports Football, 7.30pm Saturday

Major League Soccer will have picked up some new fans this week with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's arrival at LA Galaxy but Dallas are the team for viewers to back on Saturday.

Portland Timbers have been cut down to size in both their MLS outings this season and it’s hard to see them avoiding a hat-trick at Dallas in a Western Conference face-off.

Portland, poor in defeat at the Galaxy, were utterly dismal in their subsequent battering by the Red Bulls.

Defensively they were shambles with ex-Birmingham centre-back Liam Ridgewell as culpable as anyone, and coach Giovanni Savarese could be tempted to drop the lot of them.

He’s also desperate to get holding midfielder Diego Chara back in action, but injury may continue to deprive Savarese of the Colombian’s services. Portland have failed to win their last 17 matches when Chara has been absent.

Equally significantly, they can’t call upon David Guzman, who is away with Costa Rica.

Morale looks low in Oregon and they are unlikely to fancy the trip to the Toyota Stadium, where Dallas have lost just one of their last 13 MLS assignments.

The Texans go into the game after a superb 3-0 drubbing of Seattle, who had Clint Dempsey sent off late in the first half. Dallas were leading 1-0 at the time and playing well, though.

They boast bags of pace and are happy to play on the counter, home or away, and they know they boast the tools to cause chaos in the fragile Portland defence.

Recommendation
FC Dallas
2pts 13-17 188Bet

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