The Houston Dynamo are back on the road this weekend as they have a national television matchup against the Portland Timbers this Sunday (5 p.m. CT, ESPN2). Portland comes into the match with a 5-6-5 record (20 points) and have a five-game unbeaten streak in all competitions, most recently picking up a 2-2 draw on the road in Salt Lake City last Saturday.
The Portland Timbers won the 2015 MLS Cup championship, riding a three-game win streak into the postseason, where it dispatched Sporting Kansas City in a memorable shootout before upsetting the higher-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps FC and FC Dallas in the following rounds. Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri scored the fastest goal in MLS Cup Final history – 27 seconds – as the Timbers shocked the host Columbus Crew SC en route to a 2-1 win and the club’s first MLS club title.
Portland returns a core of players in 2016, led by Valeri, the 2013 MLS Newcomer of the Year and MLS Best XI selection, who has four goals and five assists this season. Valeri had four assists in six postseason games last year.
Forward Fanendo Adi is second in MLS with nine goals this season and has 36 goals in 78 appearances, including playoffs, since joining Portland in 2013. The Nigerian scored 18 goals, including playoffs, last season.
Midfielder Diego Chara has been with the club since 2011 and made 27 or more starts in every season. Midfielder Darlington Nagbe played every minute in the playoffs last season and is with the U.S. men’s national team for the Copa America Centenario.
Veterans Nat Borchers, Liam Ridgewell and former Dynamo Jermaine Taylor lead an experienced back line for head coach Caleb Porter, the 2013 MLS Coach of the Year.
