Portland visits Real Salt Lake in first round of playoffs
Portland Timbers (14-13-7, sixth in the Western Conference during the regular season) vs. Real Salt Lake (16-13-5, third in the Western Conference during the regular season)
Sandy, Utah; Saturday, 10 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Real Salt Lake plays the Portland Timbers in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Real Salt Lake is 9-10-3 in Western Conference games. Real Salt Lake is 6-0-0 when it records at least three goals.
The Timbers are 9-8-5 in Western Conference games. Sebastian Blanco is ninth in league play with nine assists. Portland has 33 assists.
The teams square off Saturday for the third time this season. Portland won the last meeting 1-0.
TOP PERFORMERS: Albert Rusnak leads Real Salt Lake with 10 goals. Corey Baird has two goals and one assist over the last 10 games for Real Salt Lake.
Blanco leads Portland with nine assists. Jeremy Ebobisse has three goals over the past 10 games for the Timbers.
LAST 10 GAMES: Real Salt Lake: 5-4-1, averaging 1.1 goals, 0.5 assists, 4.8 shots on goal and 2.7 corner kicks per game while allowing 0.9 goals per game.
Portland: 3-4-3, averaging 1.1 goals, 0.5 assists, 5.8 shots on goal and seven corner kicks per game while allowing 1.3 goals per game.
NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY: Real Salt Lake: Nick Besler (injured), Luke Mulholland (injured), Douglas Martinez (injured), Jordan Allen (injured).
Portland: Jeff Attinella (injured), Diego Valeri (injured), Andres Flores (injured), Julio Cascante (injured), Tomas Conechny (injured), Kendall Mcintosh (injured), Modou Jadama (injured).
