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Home-field advantage will be in the Portland Timbers’ hands as they will host the MLS Cup for the first time Saturday. This will be their third appearance in the MLS Cup, which they won in 2015 and finished as runners up in 2018. For New York, this will be their first MLS Cup appearance since being founded in 2013. A topsy turvy road to the Cup, the championship will see the fourth seed from each conference battle it out.
The Portland Timbers should have the advantage heading in with the match taking place at Providence Park. The Timbers have the third-highest average attendance in MLS and there will likely be a capacity crowd of 25,218 to see what could be Diego Valeri’s final game for the Timbers. While there will be questions about whether Sebastian Blanco’s hamstrings are solid enough to start the match, not needing to use him in the Western Conference championship victory over Real Salt Lake will help.
NYCFC will welcome Valentín Castellanos back from suspension just in time after seeing off the COVID-depleted Philadelphia Union to win the Eastern Conference. The presence of the MLS Golden Boot winner should go a long way for New York’s attack even though Portland has shown defensive improvement during the playoffs so far, allowing one goal over their three games after being the sixth-worst defense, allowing 51 goals during the season.
Portland and New York are similar when attacking, with 55 goals for NYC and 54 for Portland. James Sands will also be closer to full health for NYC, which is a boost going both ways.
Key battles
Tayvon Gray vs. Darion Asprilla: A breakout performer and a grizzled veteran will likely do battle on the wing in this match. The 19-year-old homegrown Gray is a center back by trade but has been starting at right back for NYC locking down attackers while using his pace to get into the box as well, shown by his assist in the third minute against New…
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Source : cbssports
