The Vancouver Whitecaps return to action on Saturday night, hosting the Portland Timbers in the return fixture of their Cascadia Cup rivalry at BC Place.

This is a weird quirk of the schedule this year, where some teams play the same team twice in just a few weeks. From Vancouver’s perspective, that isn’t a bad thing, as their 4-1 thrashing of Portland at Providence Park will be fresh in their rivals’ minds.

The Timbers haven’t made a lot of headway in turning their fortunes around since these two teams last met a month ago. Phil Neville has done little to get himself off the hot seat for a Timbers side that still has not won a match since the opening weekend.

Portland’s 1-1 draw against the LA Galaxy in their last match could have gone a different way if Kamal Miller had not been sent off in the 20th minute. However, the Timbers were lucky to walk away with a point, as the Galaxy battered them for the remaining hour or so. Had Portland not capitulated to a 10-man Houston side the week before, this might have been more of a moral victory.

The Timbers’ woes go beyond one...