Portland Timbers vs. Colorado Rapids Match Thread [7:00]

A finally fit Portland Timbers side takes on the colossally improved Colorado Rapids tonight at Jeld-Wen Field. This will be the first of five six-point matches to close out the season for the Timbers (plus another against Chivas USA) as they square off against every team currently above them in the Western Conference standings. The Rapids are young, fast, and a little unpredictable, so the Timbers will really need to be on top of the game from the start to win this one.

Here's all the information you need for today's game:

General Information

Watch it on: NBC Sports

Kick off: 7:00 pm at Jeld-Wen Field

Portland Timbers: 5th Place (43 points) in the Western Conference.

Colorado Rapids: 3rd Place (45 points) in the Western Conference.

Starting Lineups

Portland Timbers: Ricketts, Jewsbury, Danso, Kah, Harrington, Chara, Valeri, W. Johnson ©, Nagbe, Urruti, Wallace

Colorado Rapids: Irwin; Wynne, Moor, O'Neill, Klute; Thomas, Powers; Harris, Rivero, LaBrocca; Buddle

Final Thoughts

With the number of changes to the Rapids' line-up since the last time they played the Timbers, it is hard to know what could happen in this one. Although few teams have spread out their scoring as much as the Timbers, the Rapids have found goals all over their line-up with 13 different players getting on the board for them this season and seven of those players scoring more than once. Against a team like Colorado, there can be no weak links or they will find a way to exploit them.