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Real Salt Lake v Portland Timbers: Neville backs 'MVP level' Evander for more success

Real Salt Lake v Portland Timbers: Neville backs 'MVP level' Evander for more success

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Real Salt Lake are flying high at the top of the league, but welcome a dangerous Portland Timbers side to America First Field on Saturday.

Phil Neville heaped praise on Portland Timbers' star man Evander and has urged him to bring his fighting spirit to their clash with Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

The Timbers have lost just one of their last four MLS matches, though that did come in their last road match against Colorado Rapids.

They sit eighth in the Western Conference after beating leaders LA Galaxy 4-2 in midweek.

Evander was the star of that game, and Neville is hoping he can make a similar impact when they travel to Salt Lake.

"In Evander, we've got someone playing to an MVP level," Neville said.

"I said it from probably the first month of the season that he's the best number 10 in the league and people laughed at me, but what I've seen is someone who is an incredible footballer with an incredible talent.

"We're proud to have him in our organisation. He's fighting like mad for the team."

Meanwhile, RSL are up to second in the table following their midweek win over FC Dallas.

They have alternated between a win and a loss since the MLS restarted after the Leagues Cup, and head coach Pablo Mastroeni is wary of the threat they will face from Portland.

"I think if there's an early goal it will open a little bit, but Portland defend really well as a team and their front four are some of the best in the league," he told KSL Sports.

"The onus is on us to be defensively tight, compact, to not allow easy chances for these guys. More important for us is to take advantage of our opportunities.

"We need to finetune that defensive mentality because games are getting tighter, so for us, it's about doing everything really good."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Salt Lake – Anderson Julio

Anderson Julio notched his second brace of the season in Real Salt Lake's win over FC Dallas.

Julio is the third RSL player with multiple games with 2+ goals in 2024 (Cristian Arango – five, Andres Gomez – four), making this season the first time the club has had three different players with 2+ multi-goal games.

Portland Timbers – Evander

Evander had two goals and an assist on Wednesday to move his regular season totals for 2024 to 14 goals and 17 assists.

This is the 23rd time an MLS player has had 17 or more assists in a single regular season with Evander's 14 goals being the most during any of those (next-most, 12 by Preki in 1997 & 2003).

MATCH PREDICTION: REAL SALT LAKE WIN

Salt Lake have hit the 50-point mark for the second consecutive season after reaching the milestone just once in the previous seven full seasons (2015-22). This is the second time RSL have recorded 50 points in consecutive seasons, also doing so in five straight years from 2010-14.

However, they have often struggled against Portland, who have lost only two of their last 14 regular season meetings with Salt Lake (W9 D3) dating back to the start of the 2017 season. Only Los Angeles FC (11) has more wins over RSL in that time.

Portland have won only two of their last 14 road matches in all competitions though (D3 L9), including losing the last four away from home. Seven of the nine defeats in that time have been by one-goal margins.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Real Salt Lake – 45.6%

Draw – 26.8%

Portland Timbers – 27.6%

Real Salt Lake v Portland Timbers: Neville backs 'MVP level' Evander for more success

Real Salt Lake are flying high at the top of the league, but welcome a dangerous Portland Timbers side to America First Field on Saturday.

Phil Neville heaped praise on Portland Timbers' star man Evander and has urged him to bring his fighting spirit to their clash with Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

The Timbers have lost just one of their last four MLS matches, though that did come in their last road match against Colorado Rapids.

They sit eighth in the Western Conference after beating leaders LA Galaxy 4-2 in midweek.

Evander was the star of that game, and Neville is hoping he can make a similar impact when they travel to Salt Lake.

"In Evander, we've got someone playing to an MVP level," Neville said.

"I said it from probably the first month of the season that he's the best number 10 in the league and people laughed at me, but what I've seen is someone who is an incredible footballer with an incredible talent.

"We're proud to have him in our organisation. He's fighting like mad for the team."

Meanwhile, RSL are up to second in the table following their midweek win over FC Dallas.

They have alternated between a win and a loss since the MLS restarted after the Leagues Cup, and head coach Pablo Mastroeni is wary of the threat they will face from Portland.

"I think if there's an early goal it will open a little bit, but Portland defend really well as a team and their front four are some of the best in the league," he told KSL Sports.

"The onus is on us to be defensively tight, compact, to not allow easy chances for these guys. More important for us is to take advantage of our opportunities.

"We need to finetune that defensive mentality because games are getting tighter, so for us, it's about doing everything really good."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Salt Lake – Anderson Julio

Anderson Julio notched his second brace of the season in Real Salt Lake's win over FC Dallas.

Julio is the third RSL player with multiple games with 2+ goals in 2024 (Cristian Arango – five, Andres Gomez – four), making this season the first time the club has had three different players with 2+ multi-goal games.

Portland Timbers – Evander

Evander had two goals and an assist on Wednesday to move his regular season totals for 2024 to 14 goals and 17 assists.

This is the 23rd time an MLS player has had 17 or more assists in a single regular season with Evander's 14 goals being the most during any of those (next-most, 12 by Preki in 1997 & 2003).

MATCH PREDICTION: REAL SALT LAKE WIN

Salt Lake have hit the 50-point mark for the second consecutive season after reaching the milestone just once in the previous seven full seasons (2015-22). This is the second time RSL have recorded 50 points in consecutive seasons, also doing so in five straight years from 2010-14.

However, they have often struggled against Portland, who have lost only two of their last 14 regular season meetings with Salt Lake (W9 D3) dating back to the start of the 2017 season. Only Los Angeles FC (11) has more wins over RSL in that time.

Portland have won only two of their last 14 road matches in all competitions though (D3 L9), including losing the last four away from home. Seven of the nine defeats in that time have been by one-goal margins.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Real Salt Lake – 45.6%

Draw – 26.8%

Portland Timbers – 27.6%