The Major League Soccer league table might not tell the truth so early on, but it's the best truth we have so far. SJ Earthquakes and Portland Timbers are placed 2nd and 12th respectively.
The hosts Earthquakes saw competitive action as recent as three days ago, playing in the Major League Soccer. Thankfully the previous game, versus Seattle Sounders, was also a home game here at Earthquakes Stadium. The away team is better rested.
One slightly interesting match fact is that this game is played on grass and that the visiting Portland Timbers have a different surface at their stadium (artifical turf). The impact of this is hard to measure exactly, but the visitors stats on grass is 13-6-15 (win-draw-loss) from 34 matches.
Everyone involved with the away team has to get their travel gear ready for this match as there's a whopping 1000 kilometers to cover before arriving at the match.
SJ Earthquakes form and stats
SJ Earthquakes have secured 6 points from their first three home games in the Major League Soccer. A decent catch, still with room for improvement.
Midfielder Jackson Yueill was the best player on the team with a rating of 7.84 (out of ten) in that game. Yueill hit one key pass and had 58 successful passes (of 63 total).
In the game before, an away victory match versus Real Salt Lake with a 2-1 scoreline.This is expected to be a close game, with SJ Earthquakes perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with SJ Earthquakes as a small favourite), we find nine games. Earthquakes has won one of these, drawn four and lost four.
The Earthquakes manager M. Almeyda has got the team scoring with 7 from 3 home games in the league. On the other hand, SJ Earthquakes have conceded 3 goals.
Portland Timbers form and stats
No Major League Soccer points yet away for Portland Timbers, from their first 2 matches. The travelling fans think it's time that their travel expenses are covered with some points now, as Portland have lost on their last two travels.
Portland's previous game was their home loss versus Seattle Sounders (1-2). Midfield player Bill Tuiloma was the top player of the team with a match rating of 8.3/10. Tuiloma scored one goal, hit one key pass and had 34 successful passes (of 36 total).
It was a CONCACAF Champions League defeat before that one as the away game against America wasn't a success with a 1-3 loss.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Portland Timbers playing away and similar expectations, we found seven relevant matches. Results were two Portland Timbers wins, two draws and three defeats.
As for goals scored and conceded in the league games away so far, Portland Timbers has managed 1 goal and let in 5 from 2 matches.
Head 2 Head
Head-2-head stats last ten meetings: two - one - seven (Earthquakes wins - draws - Portland Timbers wins). As for goals, six matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), four had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  J. Yueill 2 goals | C. Cowell 2 goals |  C. Wondolowski 2 goals |
SJ Earthquakes missing players
Portland Timbers missing players
| SJ Earthquakes | Portland Timbers | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 5 | 3 | 1 | Played | P | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | Won | W | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Drew | D | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | Lost | L | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | 7 | 3 | Scored | S | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | Conceded | C | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 100% | 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 0% | 100% | 100% |
| 80% | 67% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 0% | 50% | 75% |
| 80% | 67% | 100% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 0% | 50% | 75% |
| 40% | 67% | 100% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 0% | 50% | 25% |
| 20% | 33% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 50% | 25% |
| 80% | 67% | 100% | BTTS | BTTS | 0% | 50% | 75% |
| 0% | 0% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| 20% | 33% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 50% | 25% |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2.6 | 3 | 4 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 0 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12.8 | 13.7 | 12 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 0 | 9 | 12.8 |
| 5.2 | 5.3 | 4 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 0 | 2.5 | 3.8 |
| 38% | 44% | 75% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 0% | 20% | 27% |
| SJ Earthquakes | Last season | Portland Timbers | |||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 26 | 13 | Played | P | 13 | 28 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Won | W | 7 | 14 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Drew | D | 4 | 8 | ||
| 10 | 3 | Lost | L | 2 | 6 | ||
| 44 | 23 | Scored | S | 30 | 55 | ||
| 60 | 24 | Conceded | C | 19 | 40 | ||
| 88% | 85% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 88% | 85% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 92% | 82% | ||
| 73% | 62% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 69% | 61% | ||
| 54% | 46% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 38% | 32% | ||
| 46% | 38% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 23% | 21% | ||
| 65% | 69% | BTTS | BTTS | 92% | 75% | ||
| 27% | 31% | Clean Sheets | C S | 8% | 18% | ||
| 19% | 15% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 7% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.8 | 2.2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.8 | 1.9 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 13.3 | 13.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.5 | 12.2 | ||
| 5 | 4.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 5.2 | 5 | ||
| 34% | 39% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 45% | 39% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Seattle Sounders | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 13 |
| 2 | SJ Earthquakes | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| 3 | LA Galaxy | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| 4 | Houston Dynamo | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | Colorado Rapids | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | Sporting KC | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 8 | Real Salt Lake | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 9 | Austin | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 | Dallas | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 11 | Los Angeles FC | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 12 | Portland Timbers | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 13 | Minnesota United | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -6 | 3 |