LOS ANGELES — The L.A. Galaxy look to right the ship as they travel to Portland to take on the Timbers at 2 p.m. PST Saturday at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. All time, the Galaxy are 7-6-5 against the Timbers and 2-4-4 in Portland. This match will be the Galaxy’s fourth match in 12 days.
The Portland Timbers are currently on a six game winning streak, with their last loss coming on April 8th against Orlando City FC in Orlando. Portland currently sits in fourth place in the Western Conference and are undefeated at home so far this season.
The Galaxy returned to their frustrating ways Wednesday, losing 3-2 at home to FC Dallas. Four of their last six matches resulted in 3-2 losses in which the Galaxy conceded the first goal of the match.
Galaxy fans should expect a different starting lineup from the one on Wednesday against Dallas. After the last match, Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid said his lineup choices for that match might not have been the best fit.
“I made some lineup changes because I thought, with the game coming up with Portland, I thought we needed to make sure we had some guys who were fresh,” Schmid said. “So the first thing I’m going to do is analyze if I made the right decisions, but obviously there’s other opportunities. We have more than 11 players on this team, and when your number is called you’ve got to be ready. Just our intensity and our desire, our drive, our determination in the first 15 minutes was not good.”
Forward Zlatan Ibrahimović scored both goals for the Galaxy Wednesday, in the 69th and 97th minute. Saturday’s match will be an opportunity for fans to see Ibrahimović alone in the forward position since forward Ola Kamara will be unavailable due to international duty with Norway. The starting formation has been shifting since Ibrahimović’s arrival in order to accommodate the talent of both strikers, so fans should expect to see something a little different with only one of the two players on the field.
Both Dos Santos brothers are still away with the Mexican national team, meaning there is room for bench players to make their mark. Additionally, midfielder Baggio Husidic was unavailable for Wednesday’s match due to injury, and he did not travel to Portland with the team. On a brighter note, Bradford Jamieson IV did travel with the team and is expected to be on the bench for the Galaxy against Portland.