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The Portland Timbers enter their home clash against Los Angeles FC on Saturday night on a five-match unbeaten run.
Even so, Portland manager Phil Neville said he believes it may take something extra to earn a result against the Western Conference's best side over the last few seasons.
Yes, the Timbers (4-2-2, 14 points) head into the weekend tied for third place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of LAFC. But that's based on only roughly a quarter of the season played, and during a time when LAFC's attentions have been split between MLS and CONCACAF Champions Cup competition.
It's LAFC (4-4-0, 12 points) that has finished first in the West two of the past three years and that has stars such as 2023 MLS top scorer Denis Bouanga and the French national team's all-time scoring leader, Olivier Giroud.
So Neville is treating Saturday's match with an all-hands-on-deck mentality and asking the same of his team's fans.
"We're going to need the supporters with us," he said. "We're going to need to make it intimidating. We're going to need to make it one of those special Providence Park nights, I feel."
All that said, Portland has earned its higher place in the table, winning three times during its five-match run (3-0-2) and scoring 11 goals.
In last weekend's 4-2 win at Sporting Kansas City, Kevin Kelsy became the latest Timbers attacker to shine with two goals and a cross that contributed to a third goal.
Meanwhile, Bouanga merely scored his first goal of the season in LAFC's 2-1 home win over San Jose last Saturday. Giroud still hasn't scored in league play, though he looked far more threatening in last week's win than in previous outings.
"Judging by the last couple weeks, we haven't been as prolific as we'd like to be," LAFC manager Steve Cherundolo said. "We don't feel like we do not have the players or the game model to start scoring again. So we feel that's just a matter of time."
Cherundolo also hopes his side looks much fresher on Saturday after a full week off. To this point, LAFC already have played six extra Champions Cup games before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Miami earlier this month.
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Gimenez Informs Milan of His Final Position on Sunderland’s Interest
Santiago Gimenez is the most promising striker Mexico has delivered in recent years. After an elite performance at Feyenoord, he went to Milan, but Massimiliano Allegri’s arrival as manager changed his thoughts about the future, and Sunderland may have a role in that. Sunderland’s season has been one of the best stories in Europe, having them in the top places of the Premier League, fighting to be the next ‘Leicester’ by becoming unexpected champions of the best league in the world. The Black Cats will have several absences in January due to the CAF African Cup; as of that, important players will miss some matches, and signings will be needed to keep them in the hunt to at least remain in UEFA Champions League spots. One position in Roger Le Briss’ roster that will need reinforcements is the attackers, because of that, the name of the current Milan’s main striker, Santiago Gimenez, who just arrived last season from the Eredivisie. Giimenez has not been able to find his best form since Milan hired Allegri, and that, along with financial issues at the Italian club, made the Mexican available for a transfer fee of around £20M, making him an absolute bargain for Sunderland. Gimenez’s Position Regarding Sunderland, His Future, and Contract Situation Santi was a key player for the current Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, playing as a true striker. However, Serie A in Italy is much more complex than that, and other responsibilities asked for by the Mexican have not helped him improve his game and scoring numbers. Nevertheless, recovering from an injury, an update regarding Sunderland’s interest. According to the Mexican journalist Kery Ruiz report, Gimenez not only has no intention to sign for Sunderland, but he also does not want to sign for any other option from the Premier League or the Bundesliga. Ruiz’s report states that Santiago has a clear wish to remain in Milan, his favourite childhood club, and where he wants to succeed as an active player for the rossoneri, rising up to the challenge imposed by Massimiliano Allegri. Another important issue that gives Gimenez leverage over Milan is his long-term contract. Even though Milan wants to move on from the striker to sign a new one, the players will not make it easy and will force his stay as much as possible.
In LeBron James' historic season debut, Lakers storm past Jazz
Luka Doncic scored 37 points with 10 assists and LeBron James added 11 points in 30 minutes of his season debut as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied for a 140-125 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Tuesday. Austin Reaves scored 26 points, Deandre Ayton added 20 points with 14 rebounds. Jake LaRavia had 16 points as Los Angeles won its third consecutive game. However, the game was historic for James and the NBA After missing the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica on his right side, James took the court to become the first player in NBA history to play in 23 consecutive seasons. Keyonte George scored 33 points and Lauri Markkanen added 31 for the Jazz, who lost for the fifth time in their past seven games. Svi Mykhailiuk and Ace Bailey each scored 13 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 10 points with 10 rebounds in Utah's only road contest in a stretch of seven games. The Lakers didn't take their first lead until going up 89-88 on a Doncic layup with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter. The basket was part of an 8-0 run that gave Los Angeles a 91-88 advantage. The Lakers dominated from there. They led 104-93 through three quarters after trailing by as many as seven points earlier in the period. Doncic scored 17 points in the third quarter alone when Los Angeles had a 37-22 scoring advantage. It was more of the same in the fourth quarter as the Lakers had a 36-32 advantage and finished with a season high in points. The Jazz led the entire first half, taking an 11-2 lead 3:19 into the game and going up 16-6 five minutes into the opening quarter. James had a turnover in the opening minute and missed his only shot of the first quarter as Utah took a 36-27 lead. James' first basket of the season came on a 3-pointer with 8:20 remaining in the first half. He scored seven points in the second quarter, while going 2 of 2 from 3-point range in the period. The Jazz led 71-67 at halftime by shooting 55.3% from the floor as George had 23 points and Markkanen added 22.
Steve Spurrier has two endorsements for next Florida HC
Steve Spurrier is a legend for the Florida Gators. Known as "the head ball coach" down in SEC-land, Spurrier was a star both as a player and as a coach for Florida. Heck, the dang field in Gainesville is named after him. That means what he says about the Florida program carries a lot of weight, and he recently revealed that he believes there are only two people who would live up to the expectations and be a great fit for the Gators as they look to replace fired head coach Billy Napier sooner rather than later. “I know Lane Kiffin and I know Eli Drinkwitz,” Spurrier recently said, according to Daniel Hager of On3. “Obviously, either one of those guys would be super if it works out. But, it’s a long way from whoever we’re going to get as our coach right now.” The Gators are currently making a full-court press for Lane Kiffin, but they're not alone in their pursuit in the Ole Miss head coach. While the Gators reportedly flew members of Kiffin's family down to Gainesville to check things out recently, the LSU Tigers also pulled the same trick — hoping to get Kiffin to ultimatly come down to Baton Rouge. LSU is probably Florida's biggest competitor for Kiffin right now, but there's also Ole Miss to consider. It's not like the Rebels are going to let a coach who has led them to a 54-19 record over the past six seasons go without a fight. Kiffin would absolutely be a home-run hire for the Gators, though. He's a high-level recruiter and a high-level offensive mind in the SEC. Those are two things that the Gators desperately need in the wake of the middling Napier era. Not only that, but Kiffin has ties to the state. He was the head coach at Florida Atlantic from 2017-19. Eli Drinkwitz an interesting option for Florida if it can't land Lane Kiffin Drinkwitz is another interesting option, though. You'll also notice that there's a trend here for Florida, and that's going after established SEC head coaches. Napier had come from the Sun Belt conference. Drinkwitz has made Missouri a tough out in the SEC and he's won a ton of football games. His overall record at Mizzou is 45-27, though his record in big games does leave a little to be desired. He's 7-14 against ranked opponents and 0-7 against top-10 teams. Still, Drinkwitz is a young coach at just 42, so the upside is there. He's a big personality who does well on the recruiting trail, and he could do a lot of good things with the firepower of the Florida Gators behind him. There are other options out there for Florida. Washington head coach Jedd Fisch is a Florida alumnus, for instance. If Spurrier has narrowed it down to Kiffin and Drinkwitz in his mind, though, you can bet those in power at Florida are likely thinking the same thing.
Jerry Jones made bold claim about George Pickens after Cowboys’ ‘MNF’ win
Jerry Jones sounded like the conductor of the George Pickens hype train after the Dallas Cowboys’ Monday night win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Pickens caught nine passes for 144 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys’ 33-16 win at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. The numbers don’t do justice to some of the masterful moves Pickens executed in the primetime victory. https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1990609821054509411 Pickens had himself quite a night, especially considering he and CeeDee Lamb were benched on the Cowboys’ opening drive. Nobody was more impressed than Jones. After the game, the Cowboys owner claimed he had “never seen” a performance like the one Pickens put on during Week 11’s “Monday Night Football” clash. “Pickens was — I’ve never seen a performance like that. It was poetic the way that he was making those moves out there. It was like he was in an opera or something out there. A ballet,” Jones said, via Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith. Jones’ claim is certainly a bold one, given that he’s watched the likes of Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Dez Bryant, Terrell Owens, and even Lamb catch passes for Dallas over the years. There’s definitely some recency bias at play, on top of Jones’ incentive to hype up one of the Cowboys’ key offseason acquisitions. The look on Jones’ face after watching Quinnen Williams get his first sack as a Cowboy said it all. Bold claims aside, Pickens has indeed been dominant in his first season in Dallas. Through 10 games, the Georgia alum leads the team in receiving yards (908), receiving touchdowns (7), and ranks second on the team in catches (58).
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