The Vancouver Whitecaps return to action on Saturday night, hosting the Portland Timbers in the return fixture of their Cascadia Cup rivalry at BC Place.

This is a weird quirk of the schedule this year, where some teams play the same team twice in just a few weeks. From Vancouver’s perspective, that isn’t a bad thing, as their 4-1 thrashing of Portland at Providence Park will be fresh in their rivals’ minds.

The Timbers haven’t made a lot of headway in turning their fortunes around since these two teams last met a month ago. Phil Neville has done little to get himself off the hot seat for a Timbers side that still has not won a match since the opening weekend.

Portland’s 1-1 draw against the LA Galaxy in their last match could have gone a different way if Kamal Miller had not been sent off in the 20th minute. However, the Timbers were lucky to walk away with a point, as the Galaxy battered them for the remaining hour or so. Had Portland not capitulated to a 10-man Houston side the week before, this might have been more of a moral victory.

The Timbers’ woes go beyond one match. They rank among the most porous defensive sides in MLS, meaning the ‘Caps should continue to have chances in attack, as they did against Portland in March. Neville may have his side dial back the press that saw their midfield shredded by Vancouver the first time around. But the Timbers will probably be content to play against the ball and try to spring Kristoffer Velde, Antony, and Kevin Kelsy in transition.

That attack has been generally okay for Portland, though it is a bit of a warning sign that DP playmaker David da Costa does not yet have any goal involvements to his name this season. Velde has a goal in each of his last two matches and, while he was quiet against Vancouver, has the tools to be a dangerous force. He can also give away the ball too easily, as his duel success rate ranks well below average across the league.

In a bit of good news for Portland, new midfielder Jose Caicedo has received his visa and could start in this one. Joey Ortiz could also be an option alongside Diego Chara after a strong outing against LA. Compared with the last time out, this Timbers midfield should have a bit more bite that could make it more challenging to play through the centre of the park.

For Vancouver, the only limiting factor might be their current injury crisis. Things seemed to be looking up, with Ranko Veselinovic and Sam Adekugbe back in training and Andres Cubas seemingly on the mend. But then Ralph Priso picked up a hamstring injury while playing for Canada on Tuesday, and now Vancouver’s backline is a bit uncertain.

Jesper Sørensen will have to decide whether he wants to rely on the lightly used Sebastian Schonlau, or move Mathias Laborda over to centre-back, with Tate Johnson playing as a left back. I would lean towards the second option, though Laborda’s last stint at centre-back (against Seattle in the CONCACAF Champions Cup) wasn’t the smoothest outing. Still, Schonlau remains something of an unknown quantity, and I would be a bit surprised to see him in the starting XI.

Otherwise, I would expect a return to something approaching a first-choice lineup. Thomas Mueller, AZ Jackson, and Sebastian Berhalter should all return after starting on the bench against San Jose. I think we will see Oliver Larraz remain in the squad in place of Cubas, though we could see Jeevan Badwal in that role as well.

The Timbers certainly will have plenty of motivation to get one over on the ‘Caps after being embarrassed for large stretches of the first match. Vancouver will, however, remember that they were hanging on for dear life for a 15-20 minute stretch in that first match, showing that the Timbers can still cause problems. Portland is not one of the more dangerous teams in the conference, but this is one the ‘Caps will still need to take seriously, given that Neville is fighting for his job and the Timbers are fighting to remain relevant in the West.

(Photos: Vancouver Whitecaps FC)