After two victories against Seattle this season a new test arises in a Best of 3 playoff series

After a rough end to the 2025 regular season, Minnesota United begins their playoff campaign with some Monday Night Footy against arguably the toughest team they could draw, the Seattle Sounders. At 1-3-1 (W-L-D) in their last five matches across all competitions, only three wins in nine seasons against Seattle, and the loss of key striker Tani Oluwaseyi to Villarreal makes the playoffs extra challenging for Minnesota. Though return of midfielder Hassani Dotson from a season ending injury has sparked more life back into the club and it’s fans ahead of this do or die best of three series. On the positive side two of Minnesota three wins against Seattle have come this season under the helm of Eric Ramsay and the squad is in a very healthy state, with only one player out due to a non season ending injury.

“We take a lot of confidence from two good performances and two good results, or certainly performances that we know equate to results, when we play against a team like Seattle, who are very difficult to play against; they’re very, very compact from a defensive perspective,” Eric Ramsay said ahead of Monday’s match. “We can in no way afford to be complacent based on the fact that we’ve beaten them twice this year because I think the have had the upper hand as a club over the course of the years.”

The upper hand Seattle has indeed had over the past nine seasons, with 14 wins in 19 matches with Minnesota including only one loss at Lumen Field. Along with that Seattle has had a much better finish to the 2025 season with three consecutive wins to close out the campaign. When asked about to choose one player the Loons had to shut down to win the series, Eric Ramsay answered that man is Jordan Morris. Morris has made only 17 league appearances with the Sounders in 2025 but has long been a thorn in the side of MNUFC, regardless of whether he gets on the scoresheet.

The Sounders top two scorers, forward Danny Musovski and attacking mid Albert Rusnak have combined for 25 of Seattle’s 58 goals this season and will also need to be shut down for Minnesota United and the third best defence in the league to win the series. Alongside their offensive production, defensive mid Christian Roldan has also proved to be a thorn in the side of Minnesota. Roldan and Seattle’s defence who’ve only allowed an average of 1.40 goals against per match are another major challenge for the Loons and their offence who have only scored more than a single goal once in their last five matches.

News & Notes

Dayne St. Clair was named a finalist for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year on 23 October.

Also on 23 Oct, midfielder Joaquín Pereyra signed a contract extension with the Loons. His new contract runs through 2028 with club option for 2029.

The Twos Momoh Kamara earned nomination for CAF Young Player of the Year.

MNUFC2 defeated St. Louis City 2 on Sunday evening to advance to MLSNP Western Final. The Twosies face Colorado Rapids 2 next weekend in Colorado for a spot in the MLS Next Pro Championship.

Availability

MIN | Out: Carlos Harvey (knee), Hoyeon Jung (SEI) ; Questionable: None

SEA | Out: Paul Arriola (knee), Pedro de la Vega (knee), Ryan Kent (hamstring), Kim Kee-hee (calf) ; Questionable: None

Staff Predictions

Ashle Paige: 1–1, someone wins in penalties

Tim McLaughlin: 4–0 Loons

Seth Steffenhagen: 3–1 Loons

Michael Lake: 2–0 Loons

Bridget McDowell: An ugly 2–1 Loons win