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Clinging to a two-point lead for the final Western Conference playoff spot, Minnesota United opens the MLS final quarter against its old nemesis, the Seattle Sounders, on Saturday in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
This will be their third meeting in two months. Seattle, which has a 12-1-2 lead over the Loons in all competitions since Minnesota entered MLS in 2017, won the last two home games with scores of 2-0, on June 15 in MLS and July 26. Jordan Morris, who leads the Sounders with nine goals, and Paul Rothrock scored in both games.
The ninth-placed Loons (9-10-6, 33 points), who are two points ahead of Austin FC with games remaining, will play for the first time since their 1-0 win over Necaxa on Robin Lod’s penalty. of the Coupe des Ligues on July 30.
Minnesota won its final MLS match 2-0 against San Jose on July 20 to end a winless 0-7-2 drought, fueled by a mass exodus of key players from the Copa America and UEFA European Championship.
“I think for a lot of reasons it’s an important (game) for us because we’ve played Seattle twice in a relatively short period of time,” Loons coach Eric Ramsay said. “In both cases we were missing a large number of players and we didn’t feel as supplied as we would like to face this challenge. “
Minnesota hit the summer transfer market hard, signing two designated players: forward Kevin Yeboah from Serie A Genoa and Argentine winger Joaquín Pereyra, who will miss the game due to visa issues, as well as defenders Anthony Markanich , Matus Kmet and Jefferson Diaz. The Loons will be without their top scorer, Tani Oluwaseyi (eight goals), who is suffering from a hamstring injury.
Seattle (10-8-7, 37 points) enters the game in seventh place and loses 3-0 at home to Los Angeles FC on Saturday in the League Cup quarterfinals.
“Now we have to go to Minnesota and play a smart game this weekend,” midfielder Joao Paulo said. “We have to move on and try to improve. “
–Box-level media
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Clinging to a two-point lead for the final Western Conference playoff spot, Minnesota United enters the MLS final quarter against its old foe, the Seattle Sounders, on Saturday in Saint Paul, Minnesota.