Portland at L.A. Galaxy
Kickoff: 4 p.m. today at Home Depot Center.
TV: KPTV (cable Ch. 12/712).
Radio: 750 AM (940 AM Spanish broadcast).
Where they stand: Portland (3-5-4, 13 points) is seventh in the Western Conference; Los Angeles (3-8-2, 11 points) is ninth (last) in the conference.
Last meeting: Los Angeles won 3-1 on April 14 at the Home Depot Center in L.A.
Storyline: Both teams are desperate for a win. The return from the three-week break for international games matches two underachieving teams. As frustrating as the start of the season has been for the Timbers, the defending champion Galaxy are at the bottom of the standings and have scored only 15 goals through 13 league games.
Injury/suspension impact: Portland figures to be without Rodney Wallace (ankle) and Eric Brunner (concussion) with injuries, and Futty Danso is still away playing for The Gambia. The impact is that Hanyer Mosquera and David Horst will play in central defense. L.A. will be without a number of players including forward Edson Buddle and defenders Omar Gonzalez and Leonardo. On the flip side, goalkeeper Josh Saunders — the former second division Timber — is expected to return to the Galaxy lineup after an extended absence.
Question of the day: After about a week of practice, how will the partnership up front between newly acquired Danny Mwanga (No. 10 jersey) and Kris Boyd look out of the gate?
Viewing party: The Timbers Army Northern Alliance viewing party for Sunday’s match is at The Dublin Down Pub, 813 Main Street, in downtown Vancouver. Sunday’s Vancouver USA Marathon will be done before then.
Under-23s play Sunday: The Timbers U23s host the North Sound Sea Wolves at 5 p.m. Sunday at Sherwood (Ore.) High School. Next up for the U-23s will be a June 22 clash with the Sounders U23s at Kiggins Bowl in Vancouver.
Follow Paul Danzer all Timbers season on Twitter at www.twitter.com/col_timbers
