Sporting Kansas City vs. Portland Timbers 8/21/22 - Major League Soccer Picks & Predictions

Sporting Kansas City hosts the Portland Timbers on Sunday in a MLS Western Conference fixture. Sporting Kansas City is 14th or last in the conference table at 6-5-15 on 23 points with a goal difference of -22. Sporting Kansas City was defeated on the road 4-3 by Austin last time out.  Andreu Fontas, William Agada and Johnny Russell each scored for Sporting Kansas City but the club gave up two late second-half goals to lose by the minimum.

Sporting Kansas City lost for the 15th time when falling to Austin last Saturday, which is a league-high. Sporting Kansas City has lost 16 times in one season only once under manager Peter Vermes and that was three seasons ago. Johnny Russell is the leading goal scorer for Sporting Kansas City with seven and Felipe Hernandez is the leader in assists with three.

Portland is 10th in the conference table at 7-12-7 on 33 points with a goal difference of +2. Portland was defeated on the road by Toronto FC 3-1 last Saturday in its most recent MLS fixture. Jose Van Rankin scored an equalizer for Portland in the 73rd minute but the back line and goalkeeper gave up two unanswered goals to Toronto in the final 21 minutes to lose by two.

Portland’s unbeaten run of 10 consecutive matches was snapped when losing last Saturday to Toronto. Portland has not won in four consecutive matches, posting three straight draws prior to its loss to Toronto. Jaroslaw Niezgoda is the leading goal scorer for Portland with nine while four others have scored five each. Sebastian Blanco is the leader in assists with seven