Orlando City vs. Portland Timbers: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your preview and match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (6-2-6, 24 points) and the Portland Timbers (6-3-5, 23 points) at Inter&Co Stadium. It’s the only scheduled meeting between the cross-conference opponents in 2025 and the first time the teams have met since the 2022 MLS season.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

The Lions are 3-1-2 against the Timbers in the regular season since joining Major League Soccer and 3-2-2 in all competitions. Orlando holds a record of 2-0-0 at home in the series.

The last time the teams met was at Providence Park on March 27, 2022, when they played to a 1-1 draw. Orlando City was ahead on a second-half goal by Junior Urso and up a man after Josecarlos Van Rankin picked up a second yellow card in the final quarter of an hour. However, Andres Perea committed a foul in the penalty area, allowing Cristhian Paredes to equalize from the spot just 10 minutes from the end of full time.

Prior to the 2022 meeting, the teams played for a trophy in the championship match of the MLS is Back Tournament on Aug. 11, 2020. The Timbers were successful on two set pieces in a 2-1 win over the Lions. Center backs Larrys Mabiala and Dario Zuparic got on the end of those set pieces to score, and Mauricio Pereyra put one in the net for Orlando on a wasteful night by the Lions, who put only one of their 14 shots on frame against the Timbers’ low block defensive formation.

The two sides also met on July 18, 2019 at Providence Park, with a largely second-choice Orlando lineup playing to a 1-1 draw against a mainly full-strength Portland side. The Lions were outshot 26-2 but managed the road point anyway, thanks to a Santiago Patino goal that was offset by a late Jeremy Ebobisse equalizer.

The last time the teams met in Orlando’s home stadium saw Orlando City rally with three goals in seven minutes to erase a 2-0 deficit and win, 3-2. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer scored in the 80th, 82nd, and 87th minutes, respectively, to overcome a hole created by goals from Portland’s Diego Valeri and Bill Tuiloma.

The Lions’ only regular-season loss in the series came at Providence Park in a game they’d rather forget, as they ended up getting two men sent off on the way to a 3-0 loss to Portland in 2018. Goals from Valeri (twice) and Darren Mattocks got Timber Joey’s chainsaw heated up. Jonathan Spector got sent off for two yellow cards and PC saw a straight red.

In 2016, Orlando City thumped the defending MLS champion Timbers, 4-1, with four different Lions scoring — Seb Hines, Kaká, Kevin Molino, and Brek Shea. Joe Bendik stopped a Fanendo Adi penalty kick, but Jack McInerney’s late goal spoiled the shutout.

Orlando won the inaugural MLS meeting in 2015 at Providence Park, 2-0, with Cyle Larin scoring the first of his league rookie record 17 goals, chesting home a wicked cross from Molino. Kaká scored the second goal from the spot to provide the final margin after Carlos Rivas drew the first penalty in Orlando City’s MLS history.

Overview

Orlando City is coming off a frustrating 3-2 home loss to Nashville SC Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup. Marco Pasalic opened the scoring and Ramiro Enrique equalized after the Lions fell behind on two poor goals by the defense, but a legitimate penalty shout against Nashville for a handball was ignored and the visitors got a late goal from fullback Wyatt Meyer to knock Orlando out of the competition. That snapped the club’s 12-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. However, the Lions still enter tonight on an 11-match unbeaten run in MLS games.

The Lions are 4-1-2 at home in the regular season. However, to improve upon that record, Head Coach Oscar Pareja must ensure his team has more legs under it tonight than it had on Wednesday, when multiple players — notably, Martin Ojeda, David Brekalo, and Cesar Araujo, among others — appeared sluggish after playing heavy minutes in Sunday’s emotional road win at Inter Miami. This is Orlando’s third match in seven days, so running the mostly the same lineup out there against Portland is likely not the best idea.

At the same time, it should be noted that the Timbers are playing their third match in eight days, with the most recent of those — a Tuesday night 1-0 loss after extra time to San Jose in the U.S. Open Cup — on the road. Portland is one extra day removed from both USOC play and MLS play than the Lions, but the Timbers have logged some travel miles, flying to both San Jose and Orlando.

Portland’s most recent league match was a hard-fought 1-1 home draw in the Cascadia Cup rivalry against the Seattle Sounders. The Timbers are 0-1-2 in their last three games in all competitions, but they sit fourth in the Western Conference and have been good on the road, taking points in five of seven away league matches with a 3-2-2 mark away from Providence Park.

Tonight’s visitors have multiple players who can inflict damage in the attack. Four players have at least four goals, led by Felipe Mora’s five, while Antony has scored four times and is tied for the Portland lead in assists, with seven. Kevin Kelsy and Santiago Moreno also have four goals apiece, with David da Costa sitting on two goals to go along with his seven assists.

Orlando must battle fatigue as well as the varied Portland attack. At the same time, the Lions must take their chances better than they did on Wednesday, as the Timbers have conceded more goals (20) than all but four teams in the Western Conference.

“Portland is a team that has been growing in this season. We don’t play in the same conference, but we have seen their growth lately,” Pareja said ahead of the match. “The preparation has been intense for us in such a short period of time. Knowing that they [Portland] have that game model that has been growing lately. We respect them and we’ll be ready.”

The Lions will be without Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Nico Rodríguez (thigh), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Eduard Atuesta (neck) and Gustavo Caraballo (lower leg) are questionable. The Timbers will be without Diego Chara (lower body), Zac McGraw (back), and James Pantemis (leg), while Jonathan Rodriguez (lower body) is questionable.

Match Content

• The latest episode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and our score predictions for tonight’s game.
• Our Ben Miller provided his three keys to an Orlando City victory in this match.

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Luis Muriel, Duncan McGuire.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Zakaria Taifi, Joran Gerbet, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Shak Mohammed, Martin Ojeda, Ramiro Enrique.

Portland Timbers (5-4-1)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Omir Fernandez, Jimer Fory, Finn Surman, Dario Zuparic, Juan Mosquera.

Midfielders: Santiago Moreno, Cristhian Paredes, David Ayala, David da Costa.

Forward: Kevin Kelsy.

Bench: Trey Muse, Kamal Miller, Claudio Bravo, Ian Smith, Eric Miller, Joao Ortiz, Ariel Lassiter, Antony, Felipe Mora.

Referees

Ref: Jair Marrufo.
AR1: Eric Weisbrod.
AR2: Kevin Klinger.
4th: Ricardo Montero Araya.
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
AVAR: Joshua Patlak.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the game. Go City!