The Portland Timbers are above the playoff line in the Western Conference but have done little lately to improve their positioning.
The New York Red Bulls are trying to chase down a playoff spot in the East but have struggled to win road games.
Portland attempts to halt a season-worst four-game winless streak Saturday night when it hosts the Red Bulls, who are seeking their first road win in nearly four months.
Portland (10-9-9, 39 points) sits in seventh in the West. The Timbers lead the Colorado Rapids by three points while they trail Los Angeles FC and Austin FC by two points.
The Timbers could be in the fourth-place Seattle Sounders’ neighborhood instead of being five points out, but they have gone 0-2-2 in their past four contests and 1-4-3 in their past eight MLS matches. Portland has been blanked three times in its last eight contests and owns just six goals in that span.
The Timbers return home after settling for draws at San Diego and Minnesota. In their 1-1 draw Aug. 30 at Minnesota, Portland received an own goal from Minnesota defender Nicolas Romero before conceding the tying goal in the 85th minute.
“We’re excited about the last six games,” Portland coach Phil Neville said Tuesday. “They’re all finals. They’re all big games.”
New York (11-11-7, 40 points) sits in 10th, trailing Chicago by two points for the final playoff spot in the East — and no other teams are realistically in the postseason chase.
However, the Red Bulls are 1-9-4 on the road for the season and 0-4-2 away from home since beating D.C. United on May 24. These struggles weren’t the case last season, when they went 4-6-7 on the road in the regular season and won three times away from home in the postseason to reach the MLS Cup.
The Red Bulls were blanked for the second straight game and eighth time overall when it settled for a 0-0 draw with the visiting Columbus Crew on Aug. 30. New York conceded one shot on goal but only saw four of its shot attempts go on target, including a point-blank try by leading scorer Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (15 goals).
“We have to stay together,” Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz said. “Now is not the moment to think about last year, only to keep the focus. We have five games to go in this season, and we’ll try everything.”
Kevin Kelsy leads Portland with seven goals. No Timbers player has found the back of the net since he accounted for both goals in a 3-2 loss to FC Cincinnati on Aug. 16.
–Field Level Media
