Minnesota United has struggled recently with four losses in their last five matches. Along with that 0-1-4 (W-D-L) record the Loons last win was a 5–1 thrashing of San Jose on 22 August in the Bay Area. On the other side Seattle is in the rebound phase after a rough middle section of the season that came with a 7 match losing streak in all competitions. The Sounders are 1-4-0 in their last five, with the win coming on Wednesday against Real Salt Lake.
Coming into the match with a 7-8-11 record (29 points) in 14th place, the Loons are only three points out of last playoff spot. If MNUFC can pull off a win in Seattle it will go a long way to helping the club move into the playoff spots. Moving to a two striker system, typically with Kelvin Yeboah and Marcus Caldeira at the head has lead to some offensive success.
But that has also led to defensive vulnerabilities when using a four at the back formation. When playing with a back four instead of a back five the team has allowed nearly 3 goals per match. That drops closer to 2 when in a back five. The combination has led to four losses on the bounce
Seattle has done well for a team that lost 10 of 11 matches and seven straight, across all competitions earlier in the season. Sounders now have an 8-8-9 record with 32 points, tied with the Portland Timbers for last playoff spot. Seattle only falls into 10th in the Western Conf on goal difference.
A huge positive for Minnesota is that Seattle is missing their top to scorers in Dejan Joveljićn (11) and Paul Rothrock (5). Joveljićn is out due to international duty and Paul Rothrock to injury. But the Sounders Albert Rusnák is a massive threat the Loons face. Rusnák leads team in points with 13 and will make the Loons defence pay if they cannot successfully shut him down.
Jackson Ragen, Álex Roldán, and Nouhou Tolo lead a Sounders defensive effort that has allowed just seven goals in the past six matches. That includes two clean sheets and two matches holding their opponent to a single goal.
Goalkeeper Andrew Thomas has 7 clean sheets with a save percentage of 74.2, while making nearly four saves per match. Former Loon Hassani Dotson having a solid season with the Sounders in his return to his home area in Seattle.
News & Notes
MNUFC2 made the MLSNP Playoffs after a win over LAFC II on Decision Day. Twoons will face Ventura County FC on 16 October in Carson, CA in the first round of the playoffs.
Last time out: MNUFC 0–0 Seattle on 22 March at Allianz Field
Record vs SEA 3-5-15 all time and 1-0-11 in Seattle.
Three players are out on International Duty this weekend, Joaquín Pereyra and Peter Stroud are out this weekend due to injury.
More notes from yesterdays training session in Blaine is available in our recent Training Tidbits.
Watch Party Locations: Dark Clouds & Loons at Black Hart of St. Paul. Dark Clouds second watch party at Beckett's in Minneapolis. TNE at Padraigs Brewing in Minneapolis. MNUFC club watch party at Pizza Maya in St. Paul.
TV time is set for 7:30pm this evening with kickoff happening at approximately 7:39pm. You can watch the match on Apple TV.
Availability
SEA | Out: Pedro de la Vega (quad), Jesús Ferreira (hamstring), Dejan Joveljić (International), Nikola Petković (knee), Paul Rothrock (hamstring) ; Questionable:
MIN | Out: Carlos Harvey (International), Joaquín Pereyra (Lower Extremity), Alec Smir (International) Peter Stroud (Lower Extremity), Nectarios Triantis (international) ; Questionable: None
