Preview: Portland Thorns vs Chicago Red Stars
Match day against an old foe.
It’s match day for Portland in another NWSL After Dark edition. Will the Thorns be able to turn the dark forces to their side?
The opponent
Chicago’s reality shares many similarities with Portland’s. Just like the Thorns, they’re struggling this year. They haven’t been able to find their best form under coach Lorne Donaldson and their defense is not the best. While Portland has 27 goals against, Chicago has 28.
Their midfield doesn’t have as much talent as the Thorns’ but both have been a little nonexistent in some games. Regarding the attack, just like Portland has Sophia Smith, Chicago has Mallory Swanson.
Last but not least, both teams are trying to end a three-match losing streak. Doing so can help them to start securing their playoff spot.
A great comeback?
The entire Portland fanbase rejoiced with Thursday’s news regarding Morgan Weaver. It’s been so long since her last game in May! However, the good thing is that she’s back and cleared to play in this pivotal end of the season.
Her chemistry with Sophia Smith is unmatched and can help the Thorns climb some spots on the table and help them with their playoff chances. Hopefully, she’ll have a dream return to the field.
The battle of the espressos
Undoubtedly, Smith and Swanson are two of the most exciting players in the league and they’ll be pivotal in this upcoming game. Both are among the top scorers of the NWSL — but it will be hard for them to reach Temwa Chawinga’s 15 goals to keep up in the Golden Boot race. However, individual accolades aside their teams are counting on the Ballon d’Or nominees to be successful in this last part of the season and that doesn’t include just goals.
Good thing that Portland has more Coffey than Chicago, uh? Maybe that’ll be the tiebreaker tonight.
What to expect
When you look at both teams’ rosters and expected starting XIs, you’ll see talented squads with world-class players in every line. Nonetheless, as both teams have showed us this year, that won’t be enough. They’ll need to play as a team to combine all that brilliance into a match-winning performance.
Hopefully, the Thorns can do just that, and also use the fans in Providence Park for their advantage.
Thorns’ possible starting XI:
Arnold
Müller - Sauerbrunn - Hubly - Reyes
Coffey - Moultrie - Sugita
Smith - Turner - Spaanstra
Chicago’s possible starting XI:
Naeher
Bielgalski - Kuikka - Anderson - Malham
Bianchi - Roccaro - Joseph
Ludmila - Swanson - Grosso
Will be interesting to see if we get the first Ludmila start of the season. Chicago's pretty weak everywhere else (especially in central midfield, but also defensively where they've been not so hot since Staab and Rall went down) so it is, as usual, going to depend a lot on if Gale actually starts his good players or not.
Memo to ownership:
New strategy--maneuver for high draft pick. Sure you'll understand.
-Management