Phil Neville hopes the Portland Timbers can lean on their memories of beating the LA Galaxy last season when they welcome the Western Conference strugglers to Providence Park on Sunday.
The Timbers ended a seven-match winless run against the Galaxy (three draws, four defeats) with a 4-2 victory in the last meeting between the sides in Portland last September.
The Timbers have won six of their last nine home matches against the Galaxy (one draw, two defeats), though they lost 3-2 in last year’s reverse fixture in Los Angeles.
This campaign, the Timbers sit 12th in the Western Conference with just three points from three matches, having lost 2-0 at Nashville SC last week.
The Galaxy, meanwhile, are still waiting for their first point as defending MLS Cup champions, after being crushed 3-0 by St. Louis City in their last league game.
“We’re looking forward to a game against the Galaxy, a brilliant team with a really good manager,” Neville said. “I love the way his teams play.
“Looking back at the games last year that we played against them, those were some of the best games in terms of a spectacle, 3-2 away, 4-2 at home.
“That was two teams that played really good football that went for it, that had really talented players on the field. We hope Sunday will be another of those games.
“I think this fixture has always got goals, it’s teams with similar philosophies, both missing players, but there’s still enough quality to have an outstanding game of football.”
The Galaxy did at least shake off their domestic troubles with a 4-1 win over Herediano to advance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday, and Greg Vanney hopes they can build on that triumph.
“With each one of these games that comes and goes, the pressure mounts a little bit,” Vanney said of their poor start to 2025.
“Even though St. Louis was a step forward in terms of performance, that game got away from us. This was another step forward for the group.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Portland Timbers – Felipe Mora
Mora has scored a career-high seven of his 39 regular-season MLS goals against the Galaxy.
Two of Mora’s three multi-goal games in MLS have also come against LA, scoring twice against them in 2020 and 2021.
LA Galaxy – Gabriel Pec
Pec has scored in five straight regular-season away matches dating back to last year, including at Providence Park in that 4-2 loss last September.
He is the first Galaxy player to score in five straight away games, while the last player with a longer streak in MLS was Josef Martinez, who netted in seven in a row in 2019.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The LA Galaxy are the first reigning champions in MLS history to lose each of their first three matches of a season.
Only five reigning champions in MLS history have lost four straight matches during the regular season of their title defence, most recently the Columbus Crew (six straight) in 2021.
Portland, meanwhile, have lost two of their first three matches of a season for the fifth time in the last eight seasons dating back to 2018.
The Timbers went on to make the playoffs on three of the previous four instances where they opened with two losses in three games.
With two well-established but out-of-form teams doing battle, it would be no surprise to see the points shared.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Portland Timbers – 37.8%
LA Galaxy – 35.8%
Draw – 26.4%
