Minnesota United at Seattle Sounders
When: 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Lumen Field, Seattle
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Weather: 65 degrees, sunny, 10 mph south wind
Betting line: Seattle minus-105; draw plus-240; MNUFC plus-290
Form: MNUFC (7-3-6, 27 points) is unbeaten in four, but two wins have been followed by two draws, including a scoreless one at Vancouver on Wednesday. Seattle (7-4-5, 26 points) is unbeaten in three, including 1-0 wins over Dallas and San Diego.
View: The Loons looked at the Vancouver match as a litmus test against the top team in the West but left lodging complaints about the poor turf at BC Place. That falls flat. Whitecaps played on it, too, and had 20% more possession.
Milestone: Captain Michael Boxall made his 250 appearance for MNUFC across all competitions on Wednesday. Hassani Dotson, who is out for the season, sits in second (166) and Robin Lod is approaching in third (155).
Recent matchups: Lumen Field has been hell on earth for MNUFC. The Loons are 0-9-0 in MLS in Seattle with a minus-15 goal differential, including a 2-0 loss under head coach Eric Ramsay last June.
Quote: “Obviously, it’s always been tough in Seattle, but I think we can have that same gutsy defensive effort, but we need to make more of our chances on set pieces and with the ball in the final third,” Boxall said. “We need to rotate the ball long enough to have time to get our wingbacks up and get more numbers in the final third, recover from (Wednesday night) and make sure we are fresh to really give it a proper go on Sunday.”
Comparison: Julian Gressel showed how much more integral he can be in possession over Bongi Hlongwane at right wingback on Wednesday. Grease completed 20 of 24 passes (83%) in his 45 minutes, while Hlongwane was 5 for 9 (56%) in his 45 minutes.
Absences: Kipp Keller (hamstring) and Sang Bin Jeong (U.S. Green Card) are out.
Update: With an international break coming next week, head coach Eric Ramsay won’t have outside considerations on the starting XI he picks for Sunday.
Context: Ramsay said there is no added element to MNUFC playing on Apple TV’s new showcase — Sunday Night Soccer — but the added day of rest is helpful as Loons end a very busy month.
Scouting report: While Jordan Morris has been out most of the season, Albert Rusnak has carried the scoring with five goals in his past six matches. And forward Daniel Musovski (five goals in 640 minutes) returned for the San Diego win.
Stat: MNUFC leads MLS in least amount of time trailing this season. Going into Wednesday, the Loons have been behind only 6.8 % of the regular season, per MLS. Then MNUFC lowered that number in a scoreless draw.
Prediction: Seattle is one of only two teams to be undefeated at home this season, and Minnesota’s history there makes a road win seem far fetched. Seattle, 2-1.
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