San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas hopes people feel that his side have "exceeded expectations" after a stellar first MLS campaign.

In their inaugural season, San Diego have broken records as well as qualifying for the playoffs and currently sit second in the Western Conference heading into Decision Day.

They could still finish as low as fourth, but a win will secure them the second seed behind the Vancouver Whitecaps despite tailing off in the last few weeks.

San Diego have won just one of their last four league matches, though that did come last time out in a 4-2 victory over the Houston Dynamo away from home, and Varas is proud of them ahead of the playoffs.

"I hope that people who watch us play feel that the boys have exceeded expectations," Varas said.

"Because it's a team that fights every single second of the game. They're so brave to play. And to play under high levels of pressure and to keep going."

Portland have also qualified for the playoffs, but it still remains to be seen if they will be in the wild card round, or if they will secure an automatic spot.

They are seventh in the West, three points above FC Dallas, but if they win and Portland lose on Saturday, the Timbers will slip down into eighth at their expense.

And head coach Phil Neville is wary of the threat that San Diego pose on the road.

"[Anders] Dreyer and [Hirving] Lozano are at their most dangerous when they play in behind, and they run," Neville said.

"When they've [San Diego] been on the road, teams get lulled into probably getting sucked forward to then getting hit with spacing.

"Those two have been a standout in the West this season in their of assists and goals scored, and that's something we're going to have to be really conscious of on Saturday."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Portland Timbers – Cristhian Paredes

Cristhian Paredes scored his second goal of the season in Portland's last home match (against FC Dallas) – his first goal against a non-California team since 2022.

Paredes has 14 career regular-season goals, with eight of those goals coming in games against teams from California.

San Diego FC – Amahl Pellegrino

Amahl Pellegrino recorded a goal and two assists as a substitute in San Diego's last match, becoming the fifth San Diego player with three or more goal contributions in an MLS match.

Pellegrino is the fourth substitute in MLS this season to do so, alongside Mikael Uhre, Cristian Roldan and Albert Rusnak.

MATCH PREDICTION: PORTLAND TIMBERS WIN

The Timbers host San Diego FC for the first time at Providence Park. Portland has 29 wins in 51 all-time home regular-season matches against Californian teams (D14 L8), with just two losses (W11 D7) in the last 20 home games. However, all three meetings this season have ended in draws.

Portland has scored in 15 of 16 home games during the regular season and 30 of 33 since the start of last season – joint-second, behind only Inter Miami (32). Since joining MLS in 2011, no team has scored in more home regular-season games than the Timbers (216).

San Diego have won a league-best 11 road matches in their inaugural season. That is tied for the most in a season in MLS's post-shootout era (with four others), while the only teams with more in MLS history are D.C. United in 1999 and the LA Galaxy in 1998 (each with 13).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Portland Timbers – 42%

Draw – 26.7%

San Diego FC – 31.3%