The Portland Timbers look to start a new streak of success when they host Nashville SC on Sunday night.
Portland had a seven-match unbeaten streak (5-0-2) halted with a 3-2 road loss against FC Dallas on Thursday night.
It marked the first loss for the Timbers (8-8-6, 30 points) since they fell 2-1 to Minnesota United on May 18.
Portland coach Phil Neville was very unhappy with the performance against Dallas.
“I’m bitterly disappointed at some of the stuff that went on on the pitch,” Neville said. “… They’re all difficult games. We’ve been on a great run. There’s going to be disappointments along the road.”
Neville and Timbers’ leading scorer Evander (10 goals, 11 assists) will both miss the Nashville match due to yellow card accumulation.
Though playing without Evander hurts, Felipe Mora and Jonathan Rodriguez have nine goals apiece for Portland.
Evander and Antony scored the goals against Dallas.
Nashville (6-7-8, 26 points) announced the hiring of U.S. Men’s National Team assistant B.J. Callaghan as coach on Wednesday and he will take over duties on July 22.
Interim coach Rumba Munthali has run the team since Gary Smith was fired on May 16. Nashville is 3-3-3 under Munthali after Nashville’s 2-0 road loss to the Columbus Crew on Wednesday. The setback was the club’s second in a row.
Former league MVP Hany Mukhtar has just five goals this season and three have come under Munthali, who made an alignment tweak that puts Mukhtar farther away from the net.
“The good thing is you get more on the ball, you assist the guys as you can pass them in and create chances,” Mukhtar said. “The downside is you’re a little bit further away from the goal. I’m a finisher. I like to strike the ball. They say with any change, there are always positives and negatives.”
Sam Surridge leads Nashville with seven goals.
This is the first meeting between the teams since 2022 when the teams played to a 1-1 draw in Portland.
–Field Level Media