NEWS » gy to try to overcome a five-point de

Two Western Conference contenders in good form collide Saturday afternoon, when the Portland Timbers host the Los Angeles Galaxy for a nationally televised showdown at always-raucous Providence Park.The Timbers (7-6-8) are riding a nine-game MLS unbeaten streak and have won four of five at home, but will be without playmaker Darren Mattocks on Saturday due to a hamstring injury. Even without Mattocks, Portland boasts two of MLS most prolific goal-scorers in Fanendo Adi and Diego Valeri.Los Angeles (8-3-8) has won its last three MLS games and five matches overall, including a 4-2 win over the Seattle Sounders in U.S. Open Cup play on Wednesday.The Galaxys Raul Mendiola scored an early goal in Los Angeles 1-0 win over Portland in U.S. Open Cup play on June 30, the two teams most recent meeting.The Galaxys Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard are dealing with injuries and considered game-time decisions. Cole has missed the last three games with a hamstring issue, and Gerrard is trying to comeback from an injury suffered in a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo last week. Gerrard is fourth in the league in assists with seven.With Mattocks out, the Timbers will lean even more heavily on Valeri, an MVP candidate who scored two goals in Portlands win over Seattle last week. Valeri is fourth in the MLS in goals with nine.He has been outstanding, Timbers coach Caleb Porter said of Valeri via Oregonlive.com. I think its in line as well with our team getting healthy. The best players are even better when they have other good players around them.Adi leads the Timbers with 10 goals and has had past success against the Galaxy with five goals in the last four games against Los Angeles.Defensively, the Timbers have settled on keeper Jake Gleeson, who has 70 saves on the season, second most in MLS. Adam Larsen Kwarasey began the season as Portlands No. 1 keeper but was plagued by injuries and transferred back to Norway earlier in the week.Galaxy keeper Brian Rowe has been solid in the net, saving 68 shots, fourth most in MLS. Wholesale Air Jordan 1 Australia . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Air Jordan 1 Australia . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. http://www.airjordan1australia.com/ . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Air Jordan 1 Australia Online . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. Buy Air Jordan 1 Australia . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are accustomed to weather delaysAnd, if the past two weeks are an indication, opposing teams better be prepared to deal with them, too, when they visit Raymond James Stadium.Play was suspended in the fourth quarter of a Bucs game because of inclement weather for the second straight week Sunday, when fans were ordered to leave their seats and seek cover in stadium concourses.The Denver Broncos had to wait 86 minutes to close out the final 6:33 of a dominating 27-7 victory that kept the defending Super Bowl champions unbeaten.The previous Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams held on for a 37-32 win after the two-minute warning turned into a 69-minute delay due to a severe thunderstorm punctuated by lightning.A crazy situation. You dont practice it as a coach, Denvers Gary Kubiak said.Our coaches and our players handled it like a mature group. We stayed focused. ... My biggest concern for both teams was just player safety, the Broncos coach added, You sit around for an hour, 25 minutes and come back out there, but it looks like both teams got out healthy. Thats the most important thing.While fans were urged to stay in the stadium and not flee to the parking lots, players hustled to the locker rooms. Once the weather cleared, the teams were told when to return to the field and given 15 minutees to warm up.ddddddddddddThunder could be heard in the distance when the game resumed in heavy rain. Most of the announced crowd of 60,375 did not return to their seats for the conclusion of the game.Unlike the previous week, when the Bucs anticipated getting the ball coming out the two-minute warning and used the delay to plot strategy to try to overcome a five-point deficit against the Rams, Sundays game pretty much was decided by the time play was suspended.To be honest, I didnt say a word, Bucs linebacker Kwon Alexander said of what was said in the Tampa Bay locker room during the delay. I was just focused, just trying to get back out there and make a play for our offense to get some points on the board. We really didnt say (anything), everybody was just thinking and being focused. (A game) never feels over to me. I never give up on anything.The Bucs routinely have to juggle practice times and schedules because of severe weather on Floridas Gulf Coast. There have been delays during preseason and regular season games in the past, though none that stopped play during the closing minutes of fourth quarters in consecutive weeks.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '