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We have to focus on the game. It’s the type of refrain you might hear, to varying degrees, from every Portland Timbers or Seattle Sounders FC player heading into Sunday’s game (1pm PT, ESPN). It’s a special occasion, the 100th meeting between the two clubs across all eras, but at the end of all the pronounced pomp and amplified circumstance, there with be a whistle, there will be a kickoff, and the latest edition of the United States’ most famous derby will be upon us.
“Those who have been here, they know what to expect,” Portland head coach Giovanni Savarese said, on Tuesday, ahead of Sunday’s match. Though he was talking about his players, the sentiment is just as easily applied to the team’s front office, stadium staff, and fans that will pack the North End at Providence Park.
The players will be center stage on Sunday, no doubt, but when Savarese says “players,” he might as well be talking about the Timbers’ entire ecosystem.
“These are the games where players bring something a little bit extra,” Savarese explained, “because they understand the importance of this match.”
It would be foolish to assume that importance can be boiled down into three discrete points, so this week, we tried to keep our focus as broad as possible. Of the number of vectors converging on Sunday’s kickoff, here are the three worth focusing on most – our KeyBank Scouting Report:
1. Keep building on what’s worked
During a 17-minute period against Minnesota United FC three weeks ago, Portland conceded twice, allowing the Loons to pull within 3-2 just before April 14’s final whistle. Over the three-game stretch that started with that match’s kickoff, though, those were the only goals the Timbers have allowed. Portland’s won all three games, and across each, the team has never trailed.
“One of the things is belief in the direction we were going,” Savarese said, about what produced that breakthrough performance. Before that match, Portland had accumulated a 0-3-2 record, stringing together a series of close calls ahead of their return to Providence Park. That first game back home, however, saw the team finally get into the win column.
“We could have probably had the results that we wanted a little bit earlier, and the guys understood that we just had to continue to work toward that direction,” Savarese explained. “The understanding that we need to help each other and grow in that are in the mentality has been very important.”
It remains important – arguably the most important quality the team can foster on ahead of Sunday’s showdown. Although the stakes are raised with each game against Seattle, the foundations remain the same: understanding; mentality; the need to work for each other, and for the vision of the team’s growth.
If those goals remain in focus on Sunday, Portland should deliver its fourth-straight win. They have enough talent to defeat any team at home, provided they work hard enough to do so. Any slip of focus, though, will leave them susceptible. In a rivalry of this magnitude, that could give Seattle enough to escape with a result.
2. That Providence Park love
Portland’s gotten a stern glimpse of what Major League Soccer’s life is like on the road, producing a 1-3-2 record way from home while playing six of eight matches, thus far, away from Providence Park. The struggles aren’t unique to the Timbers -- MLS has developed a reputation for being unforgiving to teams venturing away from home – but they highlight how important it is to take advantage of your time at home.
On Sunday, the Timbers will be on the other end of that equation, playing in a place where they’ve posted a 33-7-12 record since the start of the 2015 season. Between the North End’s intensity, the unfamiliar (for road teams) playing surface, and the quality in Portland’s squad, you can see why Providence Park would be merciless for visiting squads, and at 2.13 points per game, the Timbers’ home form outpaces what most teams should expect on their home grounds.
Having spent most of the last four weeks in Portland -- sleeping in their own beds, ensconced in the routines of being at home – the Timbers are in position to fully leverage Providence Park’s virtues. And in front of a North End primed to make Seattle’s visit as unwelcome as possible, Portland should be able to make the most of its Providence Park love.
3. We don’t need to tell you about Clint Dempsey
The last time Clint Dempsey played in Portland, he came off the bench to score a late equalizer, giving the Sounders a 2-2 draw after surviving the second half while a man down. It was a trademark moment for somebody who has become one of the rivalry’s greatest villains, not only constantly performing against Portland but reveling in his results.
Since returning to North America in 2013, Dempsey has faced the Timbers 12 times, and although the teams’ results have been fairly even, the former Fulham and Tottenham attacker has collected more than his fair share of goals.
Games |
Games Started |
Minutes |
Record |
Goals |
Assists |
Yellow Cards |
Red Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 |
10 |
974 |
5-4-3 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Dempsey is off to a slow start this season, with no goals and one assist through his first 247 minutes, but at 35 years old, and with his team juggling CONCACAF Champions League responsibilities (before a Dempsey red card sidelined him in league), the United States’ all-time leading scorer has been eased into the season. Just like his team, Dempsey can perform in fits and starts; and just like his team, he’s shown a tendency to awaken when the games matter most.
The best evidence of that might be Dempsey’s performances at Providence Park. Over his last three trips to Portland, Dempsey has scored five times, including a memorable hat trick on Diego Chara’s birthday (April 5) in 2014. After going scoreless in his first four Portland-Seattle derbies, Dempsey has averaged a goal every 77.1 minutes against Portland.
In that light record, four matches without a goal seems like nothing - perhaps nothing but motivation to create another moment at Providence Park.
