Major League Soccer · 2026Sun, 20 Sept 2026, 02:30 UTC

Portland Timbers

WWLWD

vsPre-match analysis

Atlanta United

LLWWW

30-second read

What the record shows

The story here is recent context rather than season averages: atlanta United's last-five goals scored average is above their season average. Alongside it: atlanta United's shot volume and the opposing shot-allowance context sit above their competition baselines. Limitation: At least one team lacks a recent completed match near this fixture cutoff.

Atlanta United's recent record differs from the season

moderate

Atlanta United's last-five goals scored average is above their season average.

1.8 goals/match ▲Goals forLast 5 · Season1.19 goals/match

Evidence and caveat

Comparison: An unweighted last-five average is compared with the unweighted season average.

Window: last_5 versus season

Metric	Last 5	Season	Baseline
Goals for	1.8 goals/match	1.19 goals/match	1.52 goals/match

Caveat: Five matches are sensitive to opponent mix and isolated match states.

Atlanta United show a distinct attacking-volume record

weak

Atlanta United's shot volume and the opposing shot-allowance context sit above their competition baselines.

13 shots/match ▲ShotsPortland Timbers · Atlanta United12.2 shots/match

Evidence and caveat

Comparison: Team shot volume is paired with the opponent's recorded shot allowance.

Window: season

Metric	Portland Timbers	Atlanta United	Baseline
Shots	13 shots/match	12.2 shots/match	12.8 shots/match
Shots against	17 shots/match	12.3 shots/match	12.7 shots/match

Caveat: Shot volume describes activity; it does not establish finishing quality or a match outcome.

History

Head-to-head

Recent meetings between these teams.

Last 5 meetings

1Portland Timbers

0Draws

1Atlanta United

18 Mar 2023Atlanta United — Portland Timbers · Major League Soccer5–1

4 Sept 2022Portland Timbers — Atlanta United · Major League Soccer2–1

Head-to-Head & Recent Meetings

Metric comparison

Team comparison

Season averages, with the sample size beside each metric.

Where the edge is

Season: Portland Timbers favored in 6 of 13 directional metrics · Atlanta United in 3 · 4 too close

recorded edge higher value (descriptive) too close

Window

Season

Portland Timbers21 matchesAtlanta United21 matches

1.81 goals/match ▲Goals scored21/211.19 goals/match

1.76 goals/matchGoals allowed21/211.71 goals/match

1.45 xG/match ▲Expected goals18/181.38 xG/match

13 shots/match ▲Shots21/2112.2 shots/match

4.52 shots/match ▲Shots on target21/214 shots/match

50.3%Possession21/21● 50.6%

4.43 corners/matchCorners21/21● 4.52 corners/match

3 cards/matchCards8/62.67 cards/match

10 fouls/matchFouls21/2111.5 fouls/match

Style profile

Competition percentiles describe recorded style; they do not rank likely outcomes.

Possession control

Relative share of recorded possession within the competition.

Portland Timbers51.7

Atlanta United56.7

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Attacking volume

Recorded shot and scoring volume, expressed as competition percentiles.

Portland Timbers55.0

Atlanta United20.6

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Defensive resistance

Lower recorded scoring and shot allowance produces a higher descriptive percentile.

Portland Timbers15.5

Atlanta United53.9

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Directness proxy

Shots per possession point; a descriptive transition/directness proxy, not an outcome score.

Portland Timbers45.0

Atlanta United31.7

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Physicality

Recorded fouls and cards relative to competition peers.

Portland Timbers50.0

Atlanta United51.6

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 64%

Set-piece relevance

Corner volume relative to competition peers.

Portland Timbers25.0

Atlanta United35.0

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Tempo and pressure proxy

Combined event-volume percentiles for shots, corners and fouls.

Portland Timbers32.5

Atlanta United32.1

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Schedule context

Rest and recent workload

Matches in previous 14 days · Both teams: 0 matches

28 daysRest before fixtureprevious completed fixtures · 1/127.2 days

Evidence quality

How much supports this analysis

Grade B · Useful evidenceUseful evidence — limited

Season samples21 / 21home / away teams

Recent samples5 / 5last-five windows

Freshness28 daysstale at cutoff

At least one team lacks a recent completed match near this fixture cutoff.

Known unknowns

Lineups, injuries, suspensions and tactical changes are not available in the retained dataset.
The nearest completed-match evidence is stale relative to this fixture cutoff.

Analysis cutoff: Sun, 20 Sept 2026, 02:30 UTC · analysis-v4