Providence Park | Portland, Oregon – Saturday, October 7 at 5:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Led by forward Crystal Dunn with three, the Thorns had five shots on target against San Diego, their 17thgame this season with at least five shots on goal. No other NWSL team has more than 11 such games in the 2023 regular season. The offensive juggernaut that is the Thorns still lead the league in shots (270) and shots on goal (141), as well as in goals (40) and assists (30). Stepping up lately has been forward Morgan Weaver, who has scored three of her seven goals in the last three games.
On Sunday, Gotham defender Ali Krieger played in her 195th match in all NWSL competitions, moving her into 10th on the all-time games played list. Krieger has started 189 of those matches as her next start will make her the sixth player with 190 career starts in all NWSL competitions. Despite being blanked in its last time out, Gotham had four different players their five goals between the two games prior (W1 D1).
Match facts: An incredibly entertaining NWSL season enters its penultimate weekend of action with a pair of powerhouses clashing when Portland Thorns FC hosts Gotham FC at Providence Park. It’s a meeting of 2ndand 3rd in the table, with Portland sitting a place above Saturday’s opposition with 32 points to Gotham’s 30 points.
Saturday will be Portland’s home regular season finale as the team has not lost its last home game of a season since a 3-2 loss to FC Kansas City in the league’s inaugural season of 2013. Following that defeat, the Thorns are unbeaten in their last eight such games (W5 D3) and have consecutive clean sheets.
Gotham FC comes in having attempted 23 shots in its 2-0 home loss against the Houston Dash in its last outing. It was the most shots the team had ever attempted in an NWSL match while also getting shutout. However, Gotham had managed to maintain a three game unbeaten streak with a win and two draws in their prior stretch.
Gotham ended a 12-match winless run (D6 L6) against Portland in all competitions with a 2-1 home win in July. Gotham is looking to beat the Thorns both home and away in the same season for the first time.
