Minnesota United vs. Sporting Kansas City
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Allianz Field
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Weather: 84 degrees, clear skies, 17 mph north wind
Betting line: MNUFC minus-170; draw plus-350; Kansas City plus-360
Form: Third-place Minnesota (15-7-10, 55 points) avoided consecutive MLS defeats with a 1-1 draw at Colorado on Saturday. Eliminated from the MLS Cup Playoffs, Kansas City (7-19-6, 27 points) have one win and one draw in their last 11 matches.
Recent matchups: Loons head coach Eric Ramsay remained undefeated (3-0-1) against Sporting since 2024, with a 3-3 draw at Children’s Mercy Park in March. This is an 180-degree turn from former manager Adrian Heath, who routinely struggled against Minnesota’s closest MLS competition.
Absences: FW Kelvin Yeboah (hamstring) and Carlos Harvey (knee) are out. Both are expected out for the remainder of the regular season, which ends Oct. 18, but Yeboah was in good spirits when spotted working on the side at training on Tuesday.
Context: The top of the Western Conference is tight. Loons are two points behind San Diego and Vancouver, while two points ahead of Los Angeles FC, but LAFC has two games in hand and Vancouver one. The most-important thing might be how they are nine points clear of fifth-place Seattle, given the top four get home-field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Scouting report: Dejan Joveljic has had an incredibly productive first season after his move from L.A. Galaxy, with 18 goals, but the 26-year-old Serbian been fortuitous, too, with 13.5 expected goals this season.
Stat: The Loons have averaged 0.6 goals across their three games without either top strikes Tani Oluwaseyi and Yeboah.
View: Without those top forwards, Bongi Hlongwane stepped in against Colorado, but didn’t provide a heck of a lot going forward (0.2 xG). Ramsay said he will mix and match at that position for the rest of the regular season. Perhaps it’s Robin Lod’s turn up top, with Dominik Fitz and Joaquín Pereyra underneath. That could be a creative threesome.
Prediction: Kansas City has tallied the most losses in MLS this season and anything short of three points for Minnesota will be another example of how the club might have already peaked this season. That still-possible reality is staved off this weekend at least. Loons win 2-nil.
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