St. Louis City’s league-best offensive attack will be without top scorer Joao Klauss when they host the Portland Timbers on Saturday night.
Klauss sustained a strained right quadriceps during the second half of last weekend’s 1-1 tie against the host Colorado Rapids. He has five goals and four assists while helping St. Louis City (6-2-1, 19 points) rack up 21 goals.
St. Louis City coach Bradley Carnell hopes Klauss can resume training in the middle of next week. The timing means the striker also could miss the road match against FC Dallas on May 6.
“We know what we have with Klauss and we know it’s going to be a void,” Carnell said. “It’s somebody else’s turn to step up, so we’re excited about that.”
St. Louis City is tied with the Seattle Sounders for most points in the Western Conference. The club has excelled at home with 11 goals while going 3-1-0.
Portland (2-5-2, 9 points) has struggled on the road with a 0-4-1 mark. The Timbers fell 2-1 to host FC Cincinnati last weekend.
Portland has been hindered by injuries but got one of its stalwarts back when midfielder Sebastian Blanco (knee) was cleared to play for the first time this season in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match, a 3-1 win over Orange County SC.
Blanco played 34 minutes before exiting and was relieved that his knee felt so good.
“It was a long time away from the field,” Blanco told The Oregonian. “It was really hard work, mentally and physically, to come back. It wasn’t easy for me. But I’m so happy to try and help my team in the way that I can do it.”
Blanco had seven goals and eight assists in 32 matches (20 starts) last season. Overall, he has 40 goals and 50 assists in 159 appearances (129 starts) for Portland over the previous six seasons.
Dairon Asprilla and Juan Mosquera lead the Timbers with two goals apiece.
Nicholas Gioacchini and Jared Stroud have scored three goals apiece for St. Louis City.
On March 11, Saint Louis City rallied for a 2-1 road win over Portland.
St. Louis City also played a U.S. Open Cup match this week, routing Union Omaha 5-1 on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media