Minnesota United are back home after a lengthy road trip that saw three matches all in California. The last home match on 22 March was a 0–0 draw with Seattle Sounders, the start of MNUFC's four match unbeaten streak. Minnesota is also unbeaten in nine straight at home against Portland in all competitions. The rebound for the Loons has come without a key piece of the defence in Michael Boxall as well as the loss of Wil Trapp against San Diego.
Offensively Minnesota has struggled a bit compared to last year. The Loons had eleven goals in the first seven league matches in 2025, but only have eight in 2026. Those struggles were magnified for the Loons when they scored two goals in a four match stretch. That has been rectified as of late, with four goals in the last two MLS matches, both ending in 2–1 wins. While the early defensive struggles have largely been rectified, it did have some side effects. It resulted in the Loons having a goal difference of negative five, though with 11 points after 7 matches. Portland on the other hand has just seven points, with the same goal difference.
“They [Portland] are far better than their standing in the league suggests. They have a really talented team, a good team," manager Cameron Knowles said on Friday. "They’ve improved their roster this year. They’ve improved their back line, and they’ve improved their central midfield. They’ve still got a really dangerous attacking threat, and they’re a very good team in this league."
Portland's top scorer Kristoffer Velde has scored three times this season, though his last came on 22 March. The 26 year old Norwegian winger joined Portland Timbers during the2025 summer transfer window, coming in from Greek side Olympiacos. Velde's recent drought has not been indicative of the team overall so far this season. Portland is mid-table in the scoring department, averaging 1.6 goals per match. That is good enough for 14th overall (Minnesota is in 23rd) but the defence has been where the issues are.
Conceding an average of 2.3 goals per match Portland Timbers sit below Minnesota United and rank 25th in the league. The Timbers also just have a single win in the last six matches, that win came last week against a 3rd place LAFC side. Cameron Knowles said this about the win and Portland's recent performances.
"They [Portland] got that good win against LAFC, but when you look back at games, you can’t just judge results. You’ve got to judge performances. They’ve had some strong performances. They’ve been close in a couple of games and they have been unlucky not to be in a better position in the table.”
News & Notes
James Rodríguez made his first start for Minnesota United on Tuesday against Sacramento Republic. He played 66 minutes before he was subbed off.
After hosting LAFC next weekend, the Loons will head back to California for a date with San Jose Earthquakes. The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup fourth round match will kick off at 9:00pm on Tuesday 28 April.
Today is just one of five home matchdays between 1 April and late July.
Supporters notes: march begins at 6:30 starting at Loon statue. Dark Clouds & Red Loons pre-match at Black Hart of St. Paul and TNE are at the Midway Saloon.
Kickoff is set for approximately 7:39pm tonight. It can be watched on Apple TV and heard over the radio on 1500ESPN.
Availability (as of 11 Apr)
MIN | Out: Michael Boxall (adductor), Peter Stroud (quad), Julian Gressel (broken toe) ; Questionable: None
POR | Out: Omir Fernandez (foot), Zac McGraw (back), Juan Mosquera (knee) ; Questionable: None
Staff Predictions
- Ashle Paige: 1–0 Minnesota
- Seth Steffenhagen: 3–2 Loons
- Bridget McDowell: 2–2 Loons (not a typo)
- Michael Lake: 2–0 Loons
- Tim McLaughlin: 3–1 Loons, Timbers stink rn
- Knives Paige: 3–2 Loons
