Portland Timbers v. Real Salt Lake Match Preview: Does RSL still got that dawg in them?

Portland's first visit to Sandy since Decision Day 2022 could be another positive step - or another faceplant.

If I had a nickel for every time the Portland Timbers played Real Salt Lake on a Wednesday night in May 2023, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice — and on back to back weeks, too.

Here’s what to expect when Portland travels to Sandy, Utah to face RSL (kickoff at 6:30 p.m. PT, streaming on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).

Photo Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

A look at the opposition

Apologies for those of you reading this that aren’t as terminally online as I am and don’t fully understand the reference in the title of this preview. What it refers to is the fact that the Pablo Mastroeni era at Real Salt Lake has essentially been based primarily on vibes, grit, and plain old out-working the other team to win games.

That doesn’t mean that RSL is another hard-pressing aggressive group, only that they rely mostly upon emotions and moments of magic to conjure up positive results (not unlike the Timbers, if we’re being fully honest!). The result of that is that RSL is a team that is well-poised to pounce on moments of weakness from their opposition, and punish mistakes and lapses in concentration.

Portland discovered exactly what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that a week ago. That wild 4-3 loss that bumped the Timbers from the U.S. Open Cup showed what RSL can be at their best: opportunistic, dangerous on the counter-attack, and dogged in their tenacity. Their primary threat is on the wings, with their wingers eating up space to lob in crosses for their forwards to finish.

On the flip side though, that game also exposed how vulnerable RSL can be. Because of the, um, emotional nature of this this team, they can be vulnerable to exposing themselves to taking it on the chin. Sebastian Blanco did as much when he scored against them in the fourth minute in that Open Cup tie, and Kwadwo Opoku and Denis Bouanga did it to them in Matchday 12, when they both scored in the first half as LAFC did LAFC things and walloped RSL 3-0 in Utah.

Specifically, RSL’s midfield is its most vulnerable spot as it has been bypassed quite easily, and is prone to turnovers when pressed. We saw the latter on Blanco’s goal, and the former on Jaroslaw Niezgoda’s goal that temporarily gave Portland a lead.

To be frank, RSL’s talent level is very middle-of-the-road by MLS standards, and for most of this season they haven’t been able to keep up with teams that have a talent advantage over them. They have just three wins on the year in league play, haven’t scored in their last three league fixtures, and four out of their six losses have been by 2+ goals. They stand 11th in the West, and on the balance of the year that feels about right for their form.

Still, this is a team that at one point very much had that dawg in ‘em, and they simply do not quit. All three of their league wins this season, plus their two Open Cup wins, have been comebacks from positions where RSL was either losing or had lost a lead. So as the Timbers found out last week, despite what you might be seeing play out on the field, count RSL out at your own peril.

Timbers team news and outlook

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It’s a space Portland has found themselves before over the past month — only to be followed up by a disappointing result a week later. We thought the Timbers had done it after the win over Seattle, only to see them lose in Cincinnati. We thought they had done it after the win in St. Louis, only to see them drop a result in stoppage time at home to Austin.

And now we find ourselves here again, as Portland is coming off of a complete 3-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. The win marked a long-awaited arrival of sorts for Evander, who notched his first multi-goal game for the Timbers, earning him player of the Matchday honors. His magic, especially on Portland’s third goal, was key in Portland tallying yet another Cascadia win at home.

But it wasn’t just Evander that lifted Portland last week — the midfield was especially good, and showcased the greater organization that Portland showed last weekend. That kind of structure and composure will be important in not letting RSL feast off of Portland’s mistakes, which is exactly what happened the last time these two teams met.

It might be a bit reductive and simplistic to say the key to beating RSL on this occasion is “don’t make the same mistakes as last time”, but yeah, it might really be that simple.

Portland was gappy between their midfield and backline, and especially struggled in defending in wide areas last week. You can bet that Mastroeni’s side will be looking to exploit those exact same areas this week, so the fullbacks (presumably Juan Mosquera and Claudio Bravo) and the rest of the backline will have to be proactive to keep attackers in front of them.

At the other end, Portland’s goalscoring form has improved significantly over the past month. This game is ripe for Portland to hit on chances on the counter-attack, and so the likes of Yimmi Chara, Evander, and whomever starts at forward (probably Franck Boli but maybe Jaroslaw Niezgoda?) will have to be crisp in their passing and movement on the break.

All in all, today shapes up to be a good opportunity for Portland to get a little bit of revenge over RSL. But to do that, they’ll have to be sure they don’t beat themselves first.

Projected Starting XIs

Portland (4-2-3-1): Ivacic; Mosquera, Zuparic, McGraw, Bravo; D. Chara, Caliskan; Asprilla, Evander, Y. Chara; Niezgoda

Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): MacMath; Brody, Glad, Vera, Oviedo; Gomez, Ojeda, Ruiz, Savarino; Kreilach, Rubin

Match Prediction

I’m going to be optimistic, but not too optimistic in predicting a 1-1 draw. Gomez scores another banger for the hosts, but Portland snags a draw with a Dairon Asprilla equalizer.