The Portland Timbers (7-8-12, 33 points) host the Seattle Sounders (10-13-3, 33 points) tonight at Providence Park in a pivotal late season clash.

Storylines So Far

The Timbers are coming off of back to back multi-goal losses, souring what had been a ten-game unbeaten run that had revitalized the Timbers’ season. Portland still stands below the playoff line, in 10th place in the Western Conference. They are within a point of the playoff line, but lose the tiebreaker with many of the teams around them by having less total wins. So the Timbers truly have fallen behind the curve in their race for the playoffs, and would do well to notch a rivalry win tonight to help buoy their hopes.