Following a rough midweek loss that sent the Loons out of the Open Cup, Minnesota United returns to MLS play this weekend. And for the first time since 2020 they'll play a league match in Columbus, OH against the Crew. MNUFC are 1-3-3 (W-D-L) against the Crew all-time in seven meetings across all competitions, with the Loons only win in the series coming back in 2019.
Since then the Loons have had massive changes, two head coaches have departed and longtime assitaint coach Cameron Knowles has taken over the side. Knowles club has had a start to the season that's beaten all expectations after losing so many key players in the offseason. The injury bug hasn't hit the Loons hard but has meant they've missed key defender Michael Boxall for over a month. Though even without him, MNUFC has continued to do well defensively. Over the last six league matches Minnesota has only give up one goal, becoming one of the toughest teams to break defensively.
The issue for Minnesota has been on the attack. After three consecutive matches in MLS play that saw MNUFC score two goals, they've struggled in their last two outings, only scoring one goal between them. Tuesday's Open Cup match did see Minnesota score twice, giving hope the offensive struggles were just a bump in the road for Minnesota United. The question is if they can keep that going against Columbus who have rebounded following a rough start to the campaign.
“They had a slow start to the season, and now they're hitting their stride. [It’s a] difficult place to go and play against a very good team and historically what's been a very good team in this league," manager Cameron Knowles said about Columbus Crew. "Another game on short rest without much time on the training field. We've been very good on the road this year that we can go and earn a result.”
Columbus Crew started the season on a bad note going winless in five on the bounce and winning only one of their first eight. Since then the Crew have won three on the trot, including a thrashing of USL League One side One Knoxville in the Open Cup earlier this week. They key to the rebound has been the offensive duo of Wessam Abou Ali and Diego Rossi combining for nine goals in ten matches played. The Crew's defence has also stepped up after a rough start to the campaign, allowing only two goals in their last three matches played.
News & Notes
This afternoon MNUFC2 hosts St. Louis City 2 in a special match down in Rochester at RCTC's Rochester Regional Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3pm in the Med City.
Bongi will miss tonight's match in Columbus due to a "family emergency" per Cameron Knowles. Defender Michael Boxall is also off the injury list.
Peter Stroud re-aggravated his quad injury and will be out for a longer length of time as reported in yesterday's Training Tidbits.
Want to watch the Loons with other supporters? Dark Cloud & Red Loons will be at Black Hart of St. Paul. The Dark Clouds will also have a Minneapolis watch party at Becketts in Uptown.
TNE will have a watch party at The Local in Minneapolis tonight.
TV time is set for 6:30pm tonight with kickoff happening at approximately . You can watch on Apple TV and listen on 1500ESPN.
Availability
CLB | Out: Andre Gomes (lower leg), Wessam Abou Ali (knee), Jamal Thiare (lower leg) ; Questionable: None
MIN | Out: Peter Stroud (quad), Julian Gressel (broken toe), Carlos Harvey (lower body), Bongi Hlongwane (not due to injury) ; Questionable: None
Staff Predictions
- Seth Steffenhagen: 2–1 Loons
- Bridget McDowell: 2–1 Loons. Crew Chaos
- Tim McLaughlin: 2–1 Loons
- Michael Lake: 2–0 Crew
- Ashle Paige: 1–1 draw CHAOS
- Knives Paige: 2–1 Loons
