Portland Timbers head coach Phil Neville was buoyed by how his team responded to adversity and wants them to build on their momentum against Nashville SC.

Portland suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps in their MLS opener after Kamal Miller's early sending-off but bounced back to earn a narrow 1-0 win over Austin FC last weekend.

It leaves them ninth in the early standings in the Western Conference and Neville believes the Timbers have now found their footing after a blip to start the campaign.

"There were a lot of good positives in the game. We had to be disciplined," Neville said after their win over Austin.

"We truly believed [the first result of the season] wasn't a reflection of the work we'd been doing, and we had to take a little bit of criticism.

"I felt like the adversity of what we went through that weekend, we recovered from. We showed that we're a team that can handle adversity and come together."

Meanwhile, Nashville are searching for their first win in MLS this season, having followed up a 0-0 draw with the New England Revolution in their first match with a 2-0 defeat to the New York Red Bulls.

They are one of just two teams in the Eastern Conference yet to find the net this season (along with New England), but head coach BJ Callaghan is confident their wait for a goal will not last much longer.

"There were some positives to take away [after NYRB]," Callaghan said. "As we continue to learn and get better, I think you can see the team that we're starting to put together.

"I think we're able to create chances. We just need to make sure we're in the right place in the penalty box.

"We've had opportunities to get a goal and positives to build on in the way we get into the penalty box along with the different players who are getting in there."

LET'S GOOOO pic.twitter.com/nC76dnUPCp
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) March 6, 2025

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nashville SC – Jake Maher

Jack Maher won all six aerial duels he contested on Saturday, the most aerial duels with a 100% success rate by any player in an MLS match this season.

He is the first Nashville SC player to contest six or more aerial duels in a match and win all of them since Walker Zimmerman in September 2022.

Portland Timbers – David Da Costa

David Da Costa scored Portland's lone goal in their win over Austin FC on Saturday via a direct free-kick.

It was the 11th direct free-kick goal the Timbers have scored since the start of the 2018 season (incl. playoffs), tied for second most in MLS in that time (Los Angeles FC – 14).

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

The Timbers are unbeaten in four all-time meetings with Nashville (W2 D2), with the lone meeting in Nashville a 2-2 draw in 2022. The only opponent Nashville has played more often in MLS play without winning is the New York Red Bulls (seven), who they lost to last Saturday.

However, the Timbers, playing their first away match of the season, went winless in their final seven away matches in all competitions in 2024 (D3 L4), though they managed draws in each of their last three on the road.

Meanwhile, with one point (D1 L1), Nashville are off to their worst start to a season since their inaugural 2020 campaign (L2). Nashville have been shut out in their first two matches of a season for the first time.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nashville SC – 38.8%

Draw – 26.5%

Portland Timbers – 34.7%