Portland Timbers Matchday 3 Injury Update & Lineup Status
Things are starting to look up on the injury front for the Portland Timbers.
Following the Portland Timbers’ three-points at home against Austin FC last weekend, they face their first road trip of the year heading down south for a match against Nashville SC.
On Friday, Phil Neville spoke to the media and gave a positive update on the injury status of several Timbers first-teamers that have missed action to start the 2025 season. Officially, here is their Matchday 3 player availability report:
“We’re in a pretty good position where we could have [Dario] Zuparic back, we’ve got Kamal Miller back, Santi Moreno’s looking really good every single day in training,” said Neville. The only absentees at this moment in time are [Juan] Mosquera, Jonathan Rodriguez, Max Crepeau, I think that’s it.” He had already confirmed earlier in the week that Miguel Araujo would not be back with the team this weekend while still sorting through his visa process in Peru.
All of a sudden, Portland’s somewhat concerning injury list is started to look like it’s on the mend. Neville also confirmed that Crepeau should return to training early next week having felt a minor twinge his “groin/hip” following the home opener, and Mosquera is doing physical work on the field as he ramps up his recovery efforts.
If Zuparic or Moreno feature at all against Nashville it would likely only be a late second-half substitute appearance for either, but their return has come much quicker than the club had anticipated a few weeks ago.
Jonathan Rodriguez is still at least four matches away from a return.
Lineup Prediction:
Despite Kamal Miller returning for the Timbers match against Nashville tonight, I would have a hard time displacing any member of the starting backline that kept Austin’s $30 million dollar attack off the scoresheet in their 1-0 last weekend.
Fory, Smith, McGraw, Surman, and Antony all played their part in a resolute, concentrated defensive effort. I would take that continuity on the road with me and see how it looks against a club that hasn’t scored a single goal this season.
To further help the backline I would bring the captain, Diego Chara, back into the starting XI next to David Ayala. Joao Ortiz is still acclimatizing to the MLS game and struggled to impact play against Austin, while Diego Chara should be fresh having come on to replace Ortiz for the final third of that match.
I would also tweak the forward spots slightly, bringing Kevin Kelsy in for Ariel Lassiter, and placing him and Felipe Mora next to each other ahead of David da Costa in the #10 position.
The Timbers really struggled to build their passing through the middle of the pitch against Austin, more often than not pushing the ball wide to the wingbacks to carry the ball forward. This left Da Costa and Lassiter isolated as wingers/wide #10’s and Felipe Mora without a ton of service in the box where he can win you a match. Putting Da Costa in the position the club signed him to play should change that and allow more space out wide for the wingbacks to send crosses into the box.
Another reason I like Kelsy to start is because Nashville SC captain Walker Zimmerman is a big, physical defender that Mora on his own could struggle to win physical battles against. Giving the team a big, physical counter in Kelsy to win flick-on headers and hold the ball up to start counters makes a ton of sense.
Be sure to let me know your predictions for the Timbers’ lineup against Nashville, and how you think the team will fare on the road tonight.
And, make Jimmy Pants the starter every game until he proves he shouldn't be.
So, Wyatt Meyer is a draft pick CB. NSH starts him at the #6 AND he's their ball handler/passer out of the back...
Start Kelsy and press the Bejeebus outa him. I'd make him hit every pass under hard pressure... then
give DaCosta the ball to attack him - drive on him, make him turn, meg him - and let Kelsy pull off early and flip passes to his head or feet in front of goal.
That'll pull Walker all the way over to help out - then we can slide balls into the open space out front for Mora to poach, too.
In short it's just like NFL teams do to rookie QBs - if he's their first touch outa the back, put him under pressure and make him complete passes and play turnover-free to beat you...