Portland Timbers vs Sporting Kansas City Prediction: The Timbers will draw first blood

The final match of the 1st round is between Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City at the Providence Park. With the other round matches already completed, one of these two have the opportunity to either go top or stay at the bottom. Portland Timbers are coming from a very productive pre-season, where they recorded 3 wins in 4 matches while Sporting Kansas City had 2 wins in 5 pre season games. The two clubs played each other in a friendly match in late January, in a bid to prepare for this fixture. Who will emerge on top?

The Timbers proved their preparedness for this campaign by grabbing 3 wins and 1 draw in 4 pre-season friendly matches. They started with a 1-0 win against Sporting Kansas City, and then they trashed LA Galaxy 4-1. Portland Timbers then went on to draw against Toronto FC 2-2 and in the final game they defeated New York City FC 1-0. Now the campaign is officially on, they would hope to get a strong start to set the tone for the rest of the season. 

Portland Timbers record shows they've not tasted defeat in 4 matches. In 5/7 matches, they had seen both teams scoring and in 6/6 matches, they had less than 4.5 cards shown and in ⅚ matches, less than 10.5 corners were played.

Dairon Asprilla was top scorer for Portland Timbers last season with 10 goals, while Sebastian Blanco topped the assists for the Timbers with 7 assists last season. The team would need these top players ready to deliver on the first game of the season.

Sporting Kansas did fine in the pre-season matches leading to this fixture. They won 2, drew 2 and lost 1 in 5 pre-season friendly matches. They started with a 1-0 loss to Portland Timbers and then responded in style, by trashing Grand Canyon Antelopes 8-0. Matches against Louisville City and Real Salt Lake ended in a 2-2 draw. The final game ended in a 4-2 win against Phoenix Rising FC. 

Sporting Kansas City are unbeaten in 4 matches and are without a clean sheet in 3 matches. They had seen more than 2.5 goals scored in ⅚ matches and less than 4.5 cards in 9/9 matches. 

William Agada and John Rusell were joint top scorer with 8 goals for Sporting Kansas City, while Daniel Salloi, Felipe Hernandez and Ben Sweat had 3 assists.

Both clubs have met exactly 20 times. Portland Timbers have 7 wins, while Sporting Kansas City have 5 wins and 8 matches ended in a draw. 

Sporting Kansas City are without a clean sheet in 9 meetings against Portland Timbers. More than 2.5 goals have been scored in 7/9 matches between these two and both teams have scored in 8/9 matches

It's too early in the season to predict who the outright winner is, but we can count on an exciting match from these two clubs. Portland Timbers have beaten Sporting Kansas City already in the Pre-Season and then they went on to produce great results in other games. There's a strong feeling Sporting Kansas City might do better this season, so I back them to grab a win in front of their fans today. 

Goals will come from the game, as both teams play open end football. 

• Bet on Over 2 Goals at 1.73 Odds
• Bet on Home Win at 2.00 Odds
• Bet on Both Teams Score at 1.93 Odds