Minnesota United at Philadelphia Union

When: 1 p.m. CT Saturday

Where: Subaru Park, Chester, Pa.

Stream: Apple TV Season Pass

Radio: KSTP-AM 1500 ESPN

Weather: 53 degrees, clear skies, 20 mph east wind

Betting line: Union minus-130; draw plus-300; MNUFC plus-285

Synopsis: Both teams are among the five remaining unbeaten clubs in MLS this young season, but Minnesota’s start has been more bountiful with 10 points compared to Philadelphia’s six.

Form: MNUFC (3-0-1) was off last weekend and beat Los Angeles FC 2-0 on March 16; that win looks better after LAFC throttled Nashville 5-0 last weekend. After three draws to start the season, Philadelphia (1-0-3) beat Portland 3-1 with a brace from Julian Carranza last Saturday.

Absences: Emanuel Reynoso (U.S. green card) is out. Micky Tapias (hamstring) trained on side Friday and head coach Eric Ramsay said the center back is “50-50” to play Saturday. Kervin Arriaga and Zarek Valentin have been absent from practice this week. “Neither are particularly serious injuries,” Ramsay said Friday. “I think we are talking more a matter of weeks as opposed to months for both of them.”

Projected XI: In a 4-3-3 formation, LW Caden Clark, CF Teemu Pukki, RW Sang Bin Jeong; CM Hassani Dotson, CM Robin Lod, CM Wil Trapp; LB Joseph Rosales, CB Victor Eriksson, CB Michael Boxall, RB DJ Taylor; GK Dayne St. Clair.

Context: At 32, Ramsay is more than 15 years younger than the average MLS coach. The league said going into this weekend that head coaches average 47.7 years old.

Viewpoint: Ramsay, who coached with the Wales national team, is an advocate for MNUFC players going away to join their national teams even if that falls outside of FIFA international windows. For instance, Jeong was named to South Korea’s Under-23 team for Olympic qualifying in April. “I will never want to deprive a player an opportunity he wants to take there,” Ramsay said. “I try to see the positive in the sense that the player goes away and gets really good experience. We get a chance to maybe work with someone who is not playing as regularly and someone maybe steps into a Sang Bin shoes or whoever else it might be who finds themselves away.”

Quote: “It’s going to be hard to break them down,” D.J. Taylor said of Union. “But I believe in what we are doing. It will be a good test for us to continue to show that we are a No. 1 team and we want to be top of the table.”

Prediction: The Loons have had a handful of stiff tests to start the season, but this one will prove a bit too tall. Without having to juggle Concafac Champions Cup, Philadelphia comes out with a 2-1 home win.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Byron Buxton trotted out to center field for the first time in a major-league game on Thursday, it was for the first time in nearly 600 days. Understandably, he was amped up and excited, leading to him nearly overthrowing right field Max Kepler on some warm-up tosses.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been throwing with Kep in right field,” Buxton said. “Just the little bitty things (Thursday) was what made me happy. It was like, ‘I played a whole nine innings in center and feel good.’ To come out the way we did and feel the way we did, and feel the way I did, I feel like the sky’s limit.”

Getting Buxton back into the outfield was an accomplishment not just for him, but for everybody who aided him along the way, from his family to the team’s training staff and everyone in between. It was an endeavor that took much longer than anybody first anticipated.

When the Twins first announced their plan for Buxton to start last year as their designated hitter as he rehabbed from the first surgery on his right knee, it was supposed to be temporary. He was supposed to transition back there later in the season but instead ended up never playing an inning in the field in a major-league game.

A second surgery on his right knee — this one to excise the plica — left Buxton in a much better place and opened the door for him to return to the outfield.

“It’s what we’re always hoping for, aiming for,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “… The lineup looks real nice when he’s sitting there and he’s in center field.”

Buxton had a chance to chase down a few flyballs in Thursday’s season opener, a 4-1 victory over the Royals. His first opportunity came in the bottom of the fourth inning when he shaded his eyes from the sun and easily retired Royals catcher Salvador Perez.

Getting that first one, he said, kind of took some of the nerves away.

“Crossing those lines … and running out to center field was a big accomplishment, and the work I had in the offseason, not just for me but the family, the coaching staff, the guys in here because it was a long road not just for me but for everybody,” Buxton said. “They had my back this whole way. Without them, it’s kind of one of those where I probably wouldn’t be in as good a headspace as where I am right now.”

That headspace wasn’t nearly as good last season, when he would sit in the dugout and dwell on at-bats that didn’t go his way with little to distract his mind while his teammates were on the field playing defense.

But even as he sat on the bench, day after day last season, waiting for his turn to hit, he said he never wondered if his body would allow him to return to center field.

“Why would I wonder? My goal is to go back to center. I ain’t wondering,” he said. “I know I want to go back to center. That’s the goal. If you wondering, you will not be back to where you want to be.”

While returning to center field was a primary focus for him, as opposed to some years in the past when he tried to set more specific goals for himself, the Twins outfielder has now shifted away from that.

“Every goal I tried to write out, you know what that goal was?” Buxton said. “Be healthy. Haven’t been healthy.”

So now he has a new goal, a new mantra that he has decided to live by — one he mentioned multiple times.

“My goal is to be present and available. Not healthy. If I’m present and available, that means I’m playing every day,” Buxton said. “If I’m playing every day, my numbers will be where they’re supposed to be.”

He was present and available on Thursday, playing the entire game in center and finishing the day 1 for 4 at the plate with a walk and a run scored.

And he’ll be present and available for himself, his teammates and his team on Saturday, when the Twins hit the field next, for Game 2.

“Every day is enjoyable,” Buxton said. “I don’t have to worry about dang DHing for three hours and not getting a hit. Now I can go out there and steal some hits. Oh for 3 now feels like 3 for 3 if I can go out there and not give you a hit.”

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Harrison Smith has been a fixture in the Vikings locker room for more than a decade. Originally selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame, the 35-year-old safety has already achieved legendary status in Minnesota, his aggressive style of play synonymous with the defenses he has led throughout his career.

Frankly, the thought of Smith playing for a different team doesn’t make sense to anybody, including himself, which explains why he recently agreed to restructure his contract ahead of next season. He will more than likely retire with the Vikings as a result.

Asked this week why it was so important to keep him around, head coach Kevin O’Connell emphasized how irreplaceable Smith is even at this point in his career.

“I think Harrison Smith is a guy that probably doesn’t get enough credit for his leadership,” O’Connell said. “He’s one of my favorite players I’ve ever been around.”

That leadership will be key with the Vikings in the process of ushering in a new era in Minnesota. There has been a tangible shift within the roster, getting younger by moving on from Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook and Eric Kendricks last offseason, then Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter this offseason.

There’s a chance Smith would have been lumped into that list of departing players had he not been willing to take a pay cut on multiple occasions. He did so because he feels a deep connection to the Vikings. Thus, as soon as he decided he wanted to delay retirement once again, Smith was motivated to get something done with the only organization he has ever known.

“He wanted to be a Viking,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “He loves Minnesota. He loves our fans. He loves playing at U.S. Bank Stadium.”

The creativity with which defensive coordinator Brian Flores weaponized Smith last season also played a role in him wanting to return. After being grossly misused under former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, Smith looked much more like himself with Flores calling the shots.

“He’s a perfect fit in Brian’s defense,” O’Connell said. “Just from a standpoint of being a beacon of communication and getting back around the line of scrimmage to be impactful both in the run game and the pass game.”

There might need to be some concessions made by Smith next season after playing career-high 1,113 defensive snaps last season. That amount of playing time probably isn’t a recipe for success, so the continued emergence of young safeties Cam Bynum and Josh Metellus will be crucial in being able to deploy Smith with more intention.

“We’re not going to be able to play him as much as we did,” O’Connell said. “We want to use the depth of the safety group that we feel really strong about top to bottom there. We’re going to have to be really smart. I think we found a nice sweet spot of how we get Harrison prepared without taxing him too much that Sundays become too much as they stack on top of each other.”

Even if it looks a little different moving forward, as far as O’Connell is concerned, the fact that Smith is still playing is reason enough to get excited.

“Just the idea of getting to hear Vikings fans absolutely go berserk for No. 22 running out of the tunnel again,” O’Connell said. “To me, however long Harrison wants to play, I want him playing on the football team that I’m coaching.”

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