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The Portland Timbers have already won one trophy this year, and now they embark on a campaign to win another.

The MLS is Back champions start their MLS Cup playoffs Sunday against an unfamiliar FC Dallas side in a high-stakes, single-elimination knockout game. The Timbers, the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, host the No. 6 seed, although the two sides havent met all year.

The Timbers are the favorites, with FiveThirtyEight giving them a 62% of advancing, but they do head into playoffs missing some key players.

Winger Sebastian Blanco, who was named the best player at the MLS is Back tournament over the summer, went down with an ACL tear in September. He was followed by striker Jaroslaw Niezgoda, the Timbers best shots-to-goals converter, who went down with the same injury three weeks ago.

Normally if a team lost two goal-scoring designated players, the conventional wisdom would be that theres no hope for a postseason run. But the Timbers were built differently this year with what at times looked like an excess of attacking talent. Niezgoda, for instance, went long stretches without even starting.

Theres a little bit of luck in football, always, and we went into getting Jaro Niezgoda and Felipe Mora because we believed Jeremy Ebobisse would be gone at the Olympics and potentially miss six, seven games, Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson told The Oregonian/OregonLive last week. While we didnt have the Olympics, we had an injury.

Ebobisse has been sidelined for more than a month with a concussion, but coach Giovanni Savarese said he will be available for Sundays playoff game.

The Timbers could have been without Mora and midfielder Andy Polo because both were away on international duty and would have had to quarantine upon return, but MLS has allowed teams to skip quarantines if players return on charter flights, which both Mora and Polo did Thursday.

Its a bit of a risky decision from MLS. Planes arent the only place players can contract COVID-19 while outside of their MLS team bubbles, as shown by the outbreak among Uruguay national team players, some who only tested positive after returning to their clubs.

Other clubs in MLS may cry foul at some getting their players back earlier than others. Not all players will be able to charter, and four LAFC players, for instance, have already contracted COVID-19 while on international duty.

Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese wasnt specific about whether Felipe Mora (right) and Andy Polo will play Sunday, but he did confirm the players were already in Portland and the club will follow protocols and do things the right way.

But it appears luck has fallen in the Timbers favor again since Mora is tied for second in goals for the Timbers this season and has played a surprisingly significant role this season. When asked Friday, Savarese wasnt specific about whether Mora and Polo will play Sunday, but he did confirm the players were already in Portland and the club will follow protocols and do things the right way.

The Timbers were hoping Dairon Asprilla could be available off the bench too, but MLS announced Saturday he had been given a retroactive red card for a collision with the goalkeeper in the final game of the regular season. Asprilla has been one of MLSs least efficient strikers during the regular season, but hes been unexpectedly clutch in playoff games, earning the nickname Mr. November.

Still, the Timbers should have enough depth to get through the first round of playoffs.

I do like our depth, and I do think the way Gio has rotated the group to keep a number of players invested at this stage of the season is very much a positive, Wilkinson said. I think were one of the top three, four teams in the league in players used, giving significant minutes to players, and also in subs each game.

The Timbers are the only team in MLS to have four players with seven or more goals each: Diego Valeri, Ebobisse, Mora and Niezgoda.

For FC Dallas fans, their hope lies in the matchup itself. The Timbers havent played against FC Dallas yet in 2020, and there could be something about the way Dallas matches up to Portland that offers a surprise benefit.

Its an unusual circumstance: With COVID-19 derailing just about everything, the MLS regular season had to be shortened and travel had to be minimized as much as possible. That means the Timbers only played a handful of the same teams over and over, and their schedule could be judged as relatively soft compared to some other teams.

The LA Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes, who the Timbers faced in about a combined third of games this season, were often just plain bad, which is why the Timbers were able to score six goals in a single game against each team. Prior to this season, the Timbers had never scored six goals against anyone.

Meanwhile, the Timbers never had to face the team that topped the Western Conference, Sporting Kansas City, or fourth-place Minnesota United after COVID-19 jumbled the season.

The question becomes, are standings still a good measure of how good a team is when many teams arent even playing each other? Dallas fans will be hoping not.

But there is still plenty of tape to analyze, and Dallas tends to require their fullbacks to push forward to create scoring chances. That could play into the Timbers counterattacking prowess and leave Dallas vulnerable if the match plays out as expected.

Matches arent won on paper, though, and MLS is as unpredictable as any league.

Every game in MLS is difficult it doesnt matter who we play, Savarese said. And during the playoff time, its even more complicated.

Its like a new season, he added. We need to be sharp, prepared and ready to confront the team in front of us.

The Timbers open playoffs by hosting FC Dallas without fans at 7 p.m. Sunday, broadcast live on ESPN.

-- Caitlin Murray for The Oregonian/OregonLive

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Portland Timbers quest for another trophy begins with playoff matchup against FC Dallas - OregonLive