Big match today in Portland, as you might have heard.

Some basics:

SOUNDERS FC (13-6-8; 47 POINTS)
AT PORTLAND TIMBERS (7-14-6; 27 POINTS)
12:30 p.m., Jeld-Wen Field, Portland.
TV: NBC. RADIO: 97.3 FM.
CLUB LEADERS: For Seattle: G 13, Eddie Johnson; A 13, Mauro Rosales; S 98, Fredy Montero; SOG 36 Montero; GAA 0.74, Michael Gspurning. For Portland: G 7, Kris Boyd; A 6, Eric Alexander; S 62, Boyd; SOG 28, Boyd; GAA 1.80, Donovan Ricketts.
HEAD TO HEAD: Counting all leagues, Seattle leads 40-28-9. The MLS series is even, 1-1-1 overall and 1-1 in Portland. The Timbers won the June 24 meeting, 2-1. Since then, they have changed coaches (Jon Spencer then, Gavin Wilkinson now) and goalkeepers (Troy Perkins then, Ricketts now). The Timbers visit Seattle on Oct. 7.
NOTES: A Timbers win today would clinch the 2012 Cascadia Cup competition between Portland (2-0-1), Seattle (1-1-1) and Vancouver (0-2-2). … Seattle is 3-0-1 over its last four matches, Portland is 2-1 over its last three. … The Timbers are last in the Western Conference. They are 18th in the 19-team league in goal differential (minus-19) and goals allowed (1.04), and 17th in goals scored (27) and goals average (1). … Midfielders Rosales (quadriceps) and Christian Tiffert (ankle) are game-time decisions. Midfielder Mario Martinez (Honduras) and defender Adam Johansson (Sweden) are expected to be available after returning from national team duty. … Portland’s Mike Fucito was a Sounder from 2009-11. Timbers forward Brent Richards is a native of Camas and attended UW. … The Portland weather forecast calls for 73 degrees and sunny. … This will be the Timbers’ 32nd consecutive sellout since joining MLS. … Portland defender Steven Smith will miss the game due to caution accumulation. Montero, Johnson and Portland’s Jack Jewsbury are one yellow card away from suspension … The referee is Ricardo Salazar. Salazar worked the previous Seattle-Portland match, and also Seattle’s U.S. Open Cup loss at Kansas City.
QUOTABLE: “Their field is a little more compact, a little smaller, so it lends to a little more physical nature of play. So, we hope that doesn’t become an issue in the game. I don’t think it will. I think they’re going to go out, they’re going to play hard, and they’re going to try and win the game.” – Seattle coach Sigi Schmid.
NEXT: The Sounders return to CONCACAF Champions League play Wednesday at Marathon of Honduras. They return to MLS play Sept. 22, when league-leading San Jose visits CenturyLink Field.