A week and a half after their last match (and home opener), the Portland Timbers are back in action, this time kicking off their US Open Cup run against a familiar foe: the Seattle Sounders.
With tonight’s match coming in the middle of an extended league break for the Timbers, rest and rotation will likely be a non-factor in Gio Savarese’s lineup choice tonight. As Stumptown Footy’s Will Conwell wrote for Sounder at Heart’s three questions, “As one should expect from an organization run by Gavin Wilkinson, the Timbers always try to extract maximum value from the Cup giving as many minutes to reserves and young players as they think they can while still putting up a competitive side for the opposition that they are expecting.