Five Things is a weekly series on SportingKC.com that highlights the top storylines, players to watch and matchday programming ahead of each game throughout the season.
With November’s international break in the rearview mirror, top-seeded Sporting Kansas City and the No. 5 seed Portland Timbers are ready for battle in the Western Conference Championship of the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. Sunday’s first leg at Providence Park in Portland will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT, airing live on FS1, FOX Sports GO, FOX Deportes, Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM.
Both sides have reason for optimism heading into the aggregate-goal, two-game series. Sporting KC, league champions in 2000 and 2013, have lost just twice since the start of August, while the Portland Timbers, MLS Cup winners in 2015, boast two of the postseason’s hottest players. Needless to say, this two-legged affair sets up nicely as the holiday season hits full swing.
Without further delay, here are five things you absolutely must know about Sunday’s first leg in Portland.
1. Chopping Wood
If the Timbers could have handpicked their conference championship opponent, Sporting KC would have probably been far down the list. In the last 10 regular season meetings between the clubs since 2014, Manager Peter Vermes’ men are 5-1-4 with eight — yes, eight — shutouts. Sporting KC have been particularly stubborn at Providence Park, where they are 4-2-2 all-time and own clean sheets if five of their last six visits. Tim Melia has relished the fixture above all others, owning a 0.17 goals against average and a 95.8 save percentage in six outings versus Portland.
This strong regular season run against Portland does not include the 2015 playoff battle that took place at Providence Park. In one of the most memorable postseason matches in MLS history, the Timbers edged Sporting KC in an 11-round penalty shootout following a wild 2-2 draw. Portland went on to claim the MLS Cup over a month later.
In a welcome departure from previous seasons, Sporting KC appear to be hitting their stride when it matters most. Vermes’ men are 10-2-3 since the start of August, outscoring opponents 31-13 while playing a devastating brand of attack-minded soccer. Several players have stepped up down the stretch, with homegrown forward Daniel Salloi shouldering a lead role over the last month. The 22-year-old has six goals in his last five games, while the likes of Diego Rubio, Johnny Russell and Felipe Gutierrez—who leads MLS with three playoff assists—have also found top form.
All in all, it’s been a highlight-reel campaign for Sporting KC, who have set single-season club records in goals, goal differential, assists and shots while also boasting the league’s third-best scoring defense.
3. Smell the Roses
Sporting KC are streaking at the right time, but so too are the Timbers. First-year head coach Giovanni Savarese has his side in the conference finals for the third time in club history—a scenario that seemed unlikely when the team took four straight losses back in August.
Arguably no one has been more responsible for Portland’s resurgence than influential Argentine playmakers Diego Valeri and Sebastian Blanco. Valeri, the 2017 MLS MVP, will go down as one of the league’s best players this decade. He has 12 goals and 14 assists, including two each in the playoffs, and has a knack for delivering when Portland need it most. Blanco, meanwhile, is enjoying his best spell in MLS with six goals in his last seven games, having scored six in his first 27 appearances of 2018.
If Sporting KC want to keep Portland off the scoresheet, it starts with bottling up Valeri and Blanco.
Sporting KC forward Diego Rubio will serve a one-game suspension for caution accumulation this weekend, having picked up a yellow card in both legs of Sporting KC's conference semifinal victory over Real Salt Lake. He is the only player on either team suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
However, one Sporting KC player and four Portland players are currently on caution accumulation warnings. That means these five players have already received a yellow card during the playoffs and will miss the second leg of the Western Conference Championship if they get booked on Sunday at Providence Park.
- Portland midfielder Diego Chara
- Portland midfielder Andres Flores
- Portland defender Liam Ridgewell
- Portland midfielder Diego Valeri
- Sporting KC midfielder Roger Espinoza
It’s important to note that players cannot miss the MLS Cup due to caution accumulation. Thus, any of the five players who avoid a yellow card on Sunday no longer have to worry about missing a playoff match due to caution accumulation. For example, if Espinoza isn't booked in the first leg but receives a yellow card in the second leg, he will still be eligible to play in MLS Cup if Sporting KC advance.
5. No Other Party
The biggest match of Sporting Kansas City's 2018 season calls for the biggest watch party of the year at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District. Watch party festivities will begin at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday, with No Other Pub offering an all-you-can-eat buffet and bottomless domestic draft beers at $30 per person plus a long list of drink specials headlined by $6 Till Vodka cocktails. Emceed by Sporting KC stadium host Hartzell Gray, the celebration will also feature numerous prize giveaways for Sporting KC and Till Vodka merchandise, pregame hype videos and free Till Vodka samples.
