Off the back of a first defeat of the season last time out, Minnesota United welcome Real Salt Lake to Allianz Field on Sunday.
On the other hand, the visitors make the trip to Minneapolis–Saint Paul this weekend aiming to make it three wins in a row.
Match preview
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Minnesota United's unbeaten start crumbled last Saturday as they fell 2-0 to Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park. Eric Ramsay's men conceded a goal in each half and failed to find the net themselves for the first time this season.
The Loons now sit on 10 points from five matches, dropping to fourth in the Western Conference. They are level on points with second-placed Vancouver Whitecaps, third-placed Real Salt Lake, and fifth-placed Houston Dynamo, but two points behind league leaders Los Angeles Galaxy.
Minnesota will be at home for the third time this season when they face Salt Lake on Sunday, having drawn Columbus and beaten Los Angeles FC on home soil so far.
Both sides have met 15 times in MLS, with the Loons winning five, losing three, and drawing seven. However, all of those wins have come at Allianz Field.
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Salt Lake secured their second consecutive victory with a 3-1 win over St Louis City last time out, thanks to a second-half hat-trick from Cristian Arango after trailing at half time.
RSL had a tough start to their season, losing twice already, and both losses came in their opening four games. However, Pablo Mastroeni's side seem to have found some rhythm since their victory over Vancouver Whitecaps, which preceded their last win.
A third consecutive win will be their next target, but they have only won away at Minnesota once, and that victory came in 2021. They have lost one and drawn the other of their two visits to Allianz Field since then.
Conceding seven goals in their opening six outings will also be a concern for Mastroeni. This has been their Achilles's heel in recent years, having conceded 50 or more goals in two of the last three campaigns.
Team News
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Minnesota will be without Kervin Arriaga due to a knee injury, while Miguel Tapias and Zarek Valentin are both sidelined with thigh injuries.
Caden Clark, Teemu Pukki and Jeong Sang-bin should take up the three spots in attack once again.
Salt Lake are certain to be missing Kevin Bonilla, who is likely to be out for the remainder of the campaign with a knee injury, and Pablo Ruiz, who is out for the year with a torn ACL.
Meanwhile, the trio of Fidel Barajas (knee), Justen Glad (hamstring) and Alex Katranis (foot) are questionable for this fixture.
Minnesota United possible starting lineup:
St. Clair; Rosales, Padelford, Boxall, Taylor; Dotson, Trapp, Lod; Clark, Pukki, Jeong
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Brody, Glad, Vera, Katranis; Eneli, Ojeda; Hidalgo, Arango, Crooks; Julio
We say: Minnesota United 2-1 Real Salt Lake
Minnesota United are favored at home, looking to bounce back after their first loss of the season. Real Salt Lake have mostly struggled away at Allianz Field and we expect this to continue. We expect a close match with both teams scoring and a Minnesota win.
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