St. Louis City’s 9-4-2 home record meets Portland’s 2-3-10 away mark in MLS

The question at Citypark

St. Louis City’s home record gives them the clearest edge before kickoff: 9 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses in 15 home games this season. Portland Timbers have won 2, drawn 3 and lost 10 of their 15 away games. St. Louis have scored 34 home goals and conceded 19, while Portland have scored 20 away goals and conceded 31.

The provisional table stakes

The pre-match provisional Western Conference table places St. Louis City third with 51 points from 31 games, 14 points ahead of Portland in 11th on 37. Vancouver Whitecaps lead the conference with 55 points, leaving St. Louis four points behind and Portland 18 points behind. The positions establish the current table context, but not any confirmed qualification or relegation outcome.

Form and availability

The 31-match form samples offer contrasting immediate notes: St. Louis’ two most recent listed results are losses, while Portland’s most recent listed result is a win. St. Louis are without Celio Pompeu and T. Ostrak, with R. Burki, K. Hiebert and A. Matan questionable. Portland are without A. Bonetig, B. Bye, Z. McGraw and J. Mosquera; Antony and H. Sulte are questionable.

Can St. Louis’ strong home record reassert itself against Portland’s poor away record while those absences and doubts shape the teams available at kickoff?