Major League Soccer returns with a fresh set of fixtures, as Austin FC and Portland Timbers square off at the Q2 Stadium on Wednesday (May 29). Josh Wolff’s men are winless in five games against the visitors.
Austin continue to struggle away from home, as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw with San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park. While Wolff’s men have won just one of their seven away games this season, they return home, where they are on a five-match winning streak, scoring 12 goals and keeping two clean sheets since a 2-2 draw with Philadelphia Union in March.
With 23 points from 15 matches, Austin are fifth in the Western Conference but could move to second with all three points.
Meanwhile, Portland returned to winning ways last time out by edging out Sporting Kansas City 2-1 at Providence Park. Before that, Phil Neville’s men snapped their nine-game winless run with a 4-2 victory over San Jose on May 16, three days before a 2-1 loss to 10-man Minnesota United.
With 16 points from 15 matches, Portland are 10th in the West, level on points with 11th-placed St. Louis City.
Austin FC vs Portland Timbers Head-to-Head
With four wins from their last seven meetings, Portland boast a superior record in the fixture. Austin have picked up two wins in that period.
Austin FC Form Guide: D-W-W-L-D
Portland Timbers Form Guide: W-L-W-L-L
Austin FC vs Portland Timbers Team News
Austin FC
Austin will be without Jon Gallagher, who is recuperating from a groin injury.
Injured: Jon Gallagher
Suspended: None
Portland Timbers
Santiago Moreno and Marvin Loría have been ruled out through leg and knee injuries respectively.
Injured: Santiago Moreno, Marvin Loría
Suspended: None
Austin FC vs Portland Timbers Predicted XIs
Austin FC (4-2-3-1): Brad Stuver; Hector Jimenez, Julio Cascante, Brendan Hines-Ike, Zan Kolmanic; Daniel Pereira, Jhojan Valencia; Jader Obrian, Sebastián Driussi, Owen Wolff; Diego Rubio
Portland Timbers (3-5-2): Maxime Crépeau; Miguel Araujo, Dario Zuparic, Kamal Miller; Juan Mosquera, David Ayala, Evander, Cristhian Paredes, Dairon Asprilla; Jonathan Rodriguez, Felipe Mora
Austin FC vs Portland Timbers Prediction
Austin have been outstanding at home in recent weeks and will back themselves to end their winless run against Portland. The Timbers have been poor away from home and could struggle at the Q2 Stadium.
Prediction: Austin 2-1 Portland