Preview: Portland Thorns vs Bay FC

The Thorns are back in Providence Park, and with them the Olympians!

Photo: Thorns FC

The upcoming match will be only the second time the Portland Thorns play Bay FC after their first meeting in May, when the Thorns got a win with a brace scored by Sophia Smith and a lone goal by Payton Linnehan.

Similar realities

Bay FC is adapting to its rookie year not without its growing pains. The first year of any new club in the NWSL is usually hard, and Bay’s is no exception. Bay remains among the large group of teams in the league that have had a hard time finding the back of the net, which is interesting having in mind they have Rachael Kundananji and Asisat Oshoala up top.

Just like what is happening with Portland, Bay FC coach Albertin Montoya has struggled to find a cohesive midfield that can provide balls to those two great forwards. It’s forced them to try to provide for themselves, which has taken away some of its steam up front. Despite this, they’re not far from the playoff positions, being just one point shy from Racing Louisville, the team in the last playoff position.

Getting cohesiveness

Portland didn’t have the best of games when they played Gotham FC last week. That was expected since they went against one of the best teams in the league — but what we didn’t know was how much they were going to struggle.

At this point of the season, coach Rob Gale is having a hard time putting this team together and more so now with the new signings being integrated and the injured and international players being re-integrated. The young forwards the team has acquired will surely give the team more pieces to count on but the question of “Will the coach be able to use his pieces in the best way possible?” remains. 

A good example of a coach finding the best positions on the field for his players is Washington Spirit’s Jonatan Giráldez. In the latest game against Kansas, the coach put Paige Metayer in the right-back position for the first time after playing in the midfield since she arrived at the club. How did Metayer do there? She was very good and even scored after running 60 yards on that right wing. Things like that, observing and determining where a player can be the best version of herself while helping the club in the best way possible is what great coaches do and that can be the difference between a middle-table team and a top-of-the-table one.

And that’s the thing: with so much young talent on the team now, coach Gale has the important task of determining where each player can play to the best of their abilities, and convert all that potential we’ve seen from them into real talent — and the best time to start doing that is against Bay FC,

Bay’s defense has proved to be one of the weakest in the league, and so it’s no wonder they’re the team with the most goals against. That makes this match the perfect scenario for Portland. Sophia Smith will be back and will be available and if she’s inspired, she will have the chance to score a brace against this club just like she did back in May. The question is: who’s gonna keep her company up top?

Lineup predictions

Portland:

Arnold

Müller - Sauerbrunn - Hubly - Reyes

Moultrie - Fleming - Coffey - Spaanstra

Smith - Turner

Bay FC:

Rowland

Malonson - Beattie - Menges - Dydasco

Anderson - Pickett - Bailey

Boade - Oshoala - Hill

Discussion:

Do you have any predictions for this match? Drop it in the comments below!