A very important match awaits at Sports Illustrated Stadium when the Portland Thorns take on Gotham FC, Friday night at 5 p.m.
The match will be available to watch on Amazon Prime, or you can tune in to KNRK-2 to listen to the audio broadcast.
History between these teams and current form
Although the Thorns boast a winning overall history against Gotham, the Bats are the ones bragging about beating Portland in their most recent matchups.
After winning just two of their first 11 home meetings with the Thorns (2w-4d-5l), Gotham has now won four consecutive home games against Portland, including the playoffs.
Moreover, this marks Gotham's longest winning streak against any opponent, while matching Portland's longest road losing streak.
The Thorns are not the only ones who have made themselves strong at home this season. The timing isn't ideal for the away team since the home team has a five-game winning streak for the first time in their history. They have won seven out of eight games and drawn just one. However, they're still two games behind the club record of nine home wins they recorded in 2024.
What about Portland?
They're currently in third place with 37 points after winning three consecutive matches. If they win against Gotham, they would reach 40 points for the seventh time in their history, something no other club in the NWSL has done more than five times.
Top players from both teams
As always, the team will rely on Sophia Wilson to get the result. She reached 10 goals this season in the game played against Denver Summit last Saturday.
She has not only scored 10 goals so far this season, but was also involved in 10 scoring opportunities in the last game, with seven shots and three chances created. In total, she has been involved in 119 shots (89 shots and 30 chances created). That's 18 more than Ashley Sanchez, who's second with 101.
We also have to name Pietra Tordin, whose recent form has made the team rely on her more and more. Also, her nine assists and seven goals not only speak for themselves but we also saw another demonstration of her chemistry with Wilson in the game against Denver. Hopefully, we will see that tonight as well.
For Gotham, we must mention Sam Kerr. She has historically had fun playing against Portland, scoring 10 goals in just 17 appearances. That's the second-highest against any opponent, behind the 11 tallies recorded against Orlando.
But not only Kerr has the potential to give Portland a headache. They also have players such as Jaedyn Shaw and Guro Reiten who are very creative. And they don't rely on just one piece to hurt opponents but their attacking threats can come from different areas and different players.
Will Morgan Weaver and Caiya Hanks have minutes? Will Reilyn Turner be back? Check this report for the answers to those questions and more!
Whatever the result ends up being, it'll a barometer to know where the Thorns stand in this last part of the season.
