Neville confident Timbers are on upwards trajectory ahead of playoffs

Phil Neville believes his Portland Timbers side's "trajectory is going in a massive upward curve" as they prepare for their playoff first leg against San Diego FC.

After ending the regular season on a five-game winless run, the Timbers qualified for the first round of the playoffs after beating Real Salt Lake 3-1 in the Wild Card game.

The Timbers finished in the play-in positions in 2024, too, while they missed out on the postseason completely in 2023.

Neville insisted he felt Portland were on the rise, an opinion that would not have changed even if they had failed to get the better of RSL in the Wild Card match.

"I think the trajectory is going in a massive upward curve, and regardless of the result [against RSL] that's how I felt," said Neville.

"I felt the trajectory of the team was going in a massive upward curve. You think back to when I first arrived, people didn't rate Evander. People didn't rate David Ayala. People didn't rate Antony.

"All of a sudden, we have worked as a staff, my staff are incredible, we have worked hard at improving these players. Building a culture, building a philosophy, building a consistency of work where there is a real development at this whole football club.

"I think what you see is with any young team, you are going to get peaks and troughs. Our troughs came at the wrong time, at the end of the season, but I think we are at our best when we are playing on the absolute edge."

San Diego finished top of the Western Conference after thrashing the Timbers 4-0 on Decision Day.

They have lost just twice in the league since the start of August, with both defeats coming in September as they finished the regular season with back-to-back wins.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

San Diego FC – Anders Dreyer

Anders Dreyer recorded 19 goals and 18 assists this season, joining Lionel Messi, also this season, as the only two players in MLS history to record at least 17 of each in a single campaign.

Dreyer was involved in at least one goal in 22 matches this season, tied with Messi for the most of any player this season.

Portland Timbers – Felipe Mora

Felipe Mora scored twice in the first 35 minutes of Portland's 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake in the Wild-Card round on Wednesday, becoming the first Timbers player to score multiple goals in the first half of a postseason match.

MATCH PREDICTION – SAN DIEGO FC WIN

San Diego's 63 points were a record for an expansion team, surpassing the 57 Los Angeles FC collected in 2018. The only expansion team in MLS history to advance in a multi-match tie was Chicago in 1998, winning both the conference semi-final and conference final before winning the one-off MLS Cup Final.

Portland have reached the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time since 2021. This marks just the fourth time Portland have played the first leg of a multi-leg postseason tie on the road and the first since 2017.

This will be Portland's first-ever meeting with an expansion team in the MLS Cup playoffs. The Timbers lost to San Diego last time out, though they did manage a goalless draw on the road in August, one of five teams to keep a clean sheet at San Diego this season.

In their last six league matches, San Diego have won three, drawn one and lost two. Portland, meanwhile, have won one, drawn two and lost three in their last six.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

San Diego FC – 49.6%

Draw – 25.4%

Portland Timbers – 25%