In order to stop talking about winless streak against Timbers, Sounders must end it

RENTON — It’s a stat so ridiculous that it almost strains credibility. But, yes, it’s true that the Seattle Sounders have not beaten the Portland Timbers at home in the MLS regular season since 2017.

The Sounders carry a 10-game home winless streak (0-6-4) against the Timbers into Saturday’s regular-season finale.

It would be strange enough if the Timbers were some sort of juggernaut and the Sounders weren’t very good, but that’s obviously not the case. In fact, the Timbers average less than 1.0 points per game (22-47-27) in all their other road games since their last regular-season loss at Lumen Field, while the Sounders average more than 2.0 points per game (68-18-26) at home in all their other games.

It’s not even as though the Timbers have some special hold on the Sounders, who are 6-5-1 at Providence Park during the same stretch.

Jordan Morris has played in the vast majority of those matches and admits he’s at a loss to explain why the Sounders have struggled so mightily at home against their biggest rivals.

“I don’t know the answer,” he said this week. “We have to find a way to flip it. It’s frustrating.”

As if it was needed, this match carries a little extra significance. Not only will it help determine playoff positioning for both teams, but it will also decide the Cascadia Cup. The Sounders can reclaim the regional trophy with a win, while the Timbers can take ahold of it with a tie.

The Sounders are undeniably in better form, having gone 12-2-2 since June 15 and riding a six-game unbeaten streak. The Timbers are 0-1-3 in their last four and have won just 2 of 8 since returning from the Leagues Cup break, albeit with one of those wins coming against the Sounders.

Suffice it to say, the Sounders see this as a good opportunity to put the narrative to rest.

“I’d rather focus on the good streaks,” Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei said when asked about the struggles against the Timbers. “It’s one we’d like to forget, but the way to forget is by correcting it.

“We’d rather focus on how we’re playing of late. If we play like that, maybe the last result [against the Timbers] would be different. Always focus on yourself. It’s ultimately about us and putting ourselves in a good position.”

This has already been one of the Sounders’ most successful regular seasons in their history, but they’re also well aware that it needs one more punctuation mark.

“We don’t want to just say it was a little blip in the road,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “We want to make sure we end on a good note and continue this momentum.”

Other notes

• Cody Baker left Tuesday’s training session early and entered concussion protocol. He’ll miss the Timbers game, but might be available to the Tacoma Defiance if they make a run in the MLS Next Pro playoffs.
• João Paulo continues to build back fitness after missing about a month prior to playing eight minutes against the Rapids on Oct. 5. “He just has to get back into it,” Schmetzer said. “He has to get game fit. The little cameo was a tough way to put him in, but we’ll build him back up.”
• Schmetzer declared that Raúl Ruidíaz was back in full training. He has 13 goals in 18 career appearances against the Timbers.