Minnesota United heads to NorCal for an MLS After Dark showdown with the club formerly known as the San Jose Clash. Both the Loons and 'Quakes come into Saturday nights match having dealt with a rough patch since the league resumed play following the World Cup break. In that span Minnesota has won just a single match in eight played, coming in the Leagues Cup against Atlante. San Jose have lost four of their last five, with their last win coming before the World Cup break. Tonight is the second meeting between the clubs this season, with the first coming in the US Open Cup. They will meet one more time on Decision Day at Allianz Field in St. Paul.
MNUFC have a slight advantage against San Jose with an all time record of 9-4-6 (W-D-L) against the Northern California club. A huge boon to Minnesota is the return of key players Nectarios Triantis and Nicolás Romero. Per Knowles comments on Friday, Triantis will be available for limited minutes and Romero for next weekend, but both players are officially off the injury report. On the other side of that Bongi Hlongwane is out tonight in San Jose after suffering a knock against Atlanta earlier this week.
“We had a good game against San Jose last time we played them in the [Lamar U.S Open] cup in San Jose. The response to get back into the game was really good," manager Cameron Knowles said following the Loons loss on Wednesday. "The effort to create some of the chances we did that could have potentially taken us ahead or even equalized once we'd gone down were really good. We just can't quite get over the hump.”
After getting off to a flying start under second year (and well seasoned) manager Bruce Arena, the Earthquakes have struggled since right before the break. Preston Judd (11 goals) and Timo Werner (5 goals, 4 assists) have also struggled since the end of the break, combining for one goal and one assist since the resumption of play. San Jose started the season with 10 wins in eleven matches, which has propelled them above the playoff line and currently sit in fourth, even with the rough run of form.
News & Notes
Per Cameron Knowles Nicolás Romero, and Peter Stroud remain out due to injury. As reported in yesterdays Training Tidbits, Nico is expected to return next weekend against Orlando City.
Full pre-match comments from manager Cameron Knowles can be seen over on our YouTube channel.
MNUFC2 has recalled midfielder Kage Romanshyn Jr from loan with Forward Madison. Romanshyn only made six appearances with the 'Mingos during his short time in Madison.
TV time is set for 9:30pm this evening with kickoff happening at approximately 9:39pm on Apple TV.
If you'd like to watch the match with other supporters there are plenty of options to do. Red Loons and Dark Clouds will be at Black Hart of St. Paul while the Dark Clouds will have another watch party at Beckett's in Lyn-Lake Minneapolis.
Availability
MIN | Out: Kieran Chandler (knee), Bongokuhle Hlongwane (knee), Peter Stroud (lower extremity); Questionable: None
SJ | Out: Nonso Adimanua (lower body), Earl Edwards (lower body), Dejuan Jones (lower body), and Ronaldo Vieira (lower body) ; Questionable: None
