Match Focus: Seattle vs Portland the Main Event in MLS Thus Far

The play-off season looms in the distance and the pressure is starting to build across Major League Soccer. There have been some titanic battles this year but Sunday night’s Cascadia Cup clash between the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers feels like the climax of the season so far.
 
Almost 70,000 supporters are expected to pack CenturyLink Field for the game as Clint Dempsey makes his long-awaited home debut against his new team’s biggest rivals. Whatever the result this game will go down in MLS folklore.
 
But when the contest is simplified down to chalkboards and team talks who has the upper hand?
 
The record signing of Dempsey from Tottenham Hotspur has given Seattle momentum heading into this tie (although the 3-1 defeat to the Houston Dynamo disrupted their stride somewhat), putting them within just two points of the Western play-off places.
 
A sell-out crowd should amplify that momentum, meaning the Sounders will be a formidable opponent. But what can the Portland Timbers do to spoil their rivals’ big day?
 
Since taking charge of Portland at the start of the year coach Caleb Porter has imposed an attractive, yet effective, passing style of play on to his new team. The Timbers have become the bastions of ‘tiki-taka’ (albeit an unrefined version) in MLS.
 
That identity has its foundation in midfield, but Porter will be without his two most accomplished performers through the centre, with Diego Chara missing through suspension and Will Johnson out with a shoulder blade injury.
 
Portland will need to replace the passing service that both players provide (Chara makes an average of 53 passes per game, while Johnson averages 52.4) or risk being overrun by a Seattle midfield that boasts its own pass-master in Osvaldo Alonso, making an average of 55.2 passes per game, ranking him third in MLS.
 
However, Alonso’s game is as much about breaking up possession as it is about recycling it and the Cuban must improve upon his defensive performance against Houston. Alonso averages four tackles per game, making him MLS’ second most prolific tackler, but against the Dynamo he only made two tackles, half his usual average. The midfielder did make 65 passes over the course of the contest, with a pass success rate of 91% but Alonso failed to provide the defensive cover in midfield the Sounders’ predominantly attacking system requires.
 
In fact both sides are expected to line-up in similar systems, using a lone frontman flanked by a supporting attacker and inverted wingers.
 
For the Timbers Darlington Nagbe switches between flanks to unsettle the opposition backline, and indeed the Liberian averages more successful dribbles per game (1.8 per appearance) than any other Portland player.
 
But if Porter is looking to identify his most effective crosser he will land on Diego Valeri. The Argentine signed a multiyear deal with the Timbers earlier this month to become a permanent designated player with the club and has stamped his style on Portland.
 
Valeri averages 1.7 accurate crosses per game, an impressive achievement considering his more central starting position in the Timbers line-up. His influence on Portland’s game from a supporting position is significant, illustrated by his average of 2.2 key passes per game, among the highest such statistic in the league.
 
While Valeri offers guile and creativity in the position behind the central striker for the Timbers Dempsey is a different sort of threat in that role for the Sounders. The new signing is an explosive proposition, using power and his footballing weapons to pries open space and create opportunities.
 
Dempsey could be used as a second forward, putting Lamar Neagle and Eddie Johnson on the wings, but the USA captain is more likely to be deployed in a supporting role, operating between the lines of midfield and attack.
 
Having made just one start and one substitute appearance the 30 year old has already had an impact on his new side, improving their attacking potency against Toronto FC and the Houston Dynamo.
 
Over those two games Dempsey has averaged 4.5 shots on goal, putting him top of the Sounders’ efforts per game column. Of course that average is likely to level out over the remainder of the season but the new signing has also made a difference with his dribbling (2 per game, ranking him second at Seattle) and key passes per game (1.5 per game, putting him third in that column).

 
Ahead of Dempsey Obafemi Martins is expected to start, should he overcome a minor injury picked up in the 2-1 win over Toronto FC, with Ryan Johnson expected to be given the nod in attack for the Timbers.
 
Both players have enjoyed good seasons thus far (Johnson has eight goals to his name, with Martins on seven) and will be targeting their opponent’s distinct weakness, the backline.
 
The Sounders and the Timbers have both struggled for defensive resolution this year, underlined by Portland’s 3-3 draw with Real Salt Lake on Wednesday.
 
This insecurity could be the result of a number of injuries throughout the Timbers roster, with three of their top four interceptors (Mikael Silvestre, Mamadou Danso and Jack Jewsbury) all sidelined for the game against Seattle.
 
Centre back Pa-Modou Kah appears to be the weakest link in Porter’s defence, averaging 1.4 tackles per game compared to partner Andrew Jean-Baptiste’s 1.8 per game. Only Jewsbury, a full back, registers a lower average among the Timbers’ normal defensive four.
 
For the Sounders, their defensive statistics don’t make much lighter reading, with full backs Leonardo Gonzalez and DeAndre Yedlin both averaging more tackles and interceptions per game (3.9 – 3.4 and 2.6 – 4.5) than any of their central defensive counterparts.
 
Two of the best attacks in MLS will match-up against each other on Sunday but the battle could be decided on which backline can hold together.
 
Dempsey might be the main attraction for the 68,000 strong Seattle crowd but the game will be the main event.