Minnesota United at Colorado Rapids: Keys to the match, projected starting XI and a prediction
Minnesota United at Colorado Rapids
When: 8:30 p.m. CT Saturday
Where: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Stream: Apple TV Season Pass
Radio: KSTP-AM 1500 ESPN
Weather: 66 degrees, partly cloudy, 11 mph south wind
Betting line: Colorado minus-105; draw plus-280; MNUFC plus-240
Form: MNUFC (7-2-3, 24 points) is unbeaten in four matches with a 2-1 comeback win over Portland last Saturday. Rapids (6-5-3, 21 points) gave up three goals after the 85th minute in 5-3 loss to first-place Real Salt Lake last weekend.
Look-ahead: MNUFC is 4-1-0 away from St. Paul in 2023. With a win Saturday, United would become third team in MLS history (outside the league’s shootout era) to win five of its opening six road games in a season. The 2010 LA Galaxy and 2022 NY Red Bulls each went 5-0-1and advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs. Galaxy won the Supporters Shield.
Quote: Analyst Taylor Twellman had big praise on Apple TV about Loons sitting atop West standings at two points per match, while getting little from two of its three Designated Players: “Eric Ramsay is inarguably manager of the year at this point —and he wasn’t even (in Minnesota) for the first month.”
Absences: Emanuel Reynoso (return-to-play protocol and transfer rumors), Micky Tapias (red card suspension) and Hugo Bacharach (knee) are out.
RELATED: Loons bracing for possibility of 10 or more players going on international duty in June
Update: Hassani Dotson, Moses Nyeman and Jordan Adebayo-Smith are off the injury list and available to play in the upcoming week, where Loons have three matches in eight days. “(Dotson has) trained really well over the course of two weeks,” Ramsay said. “I think he’s well in contention. … We are really pleased he’s come back into the fold. I’m sure the team will welcome him back because he’s a big player for us.”
Projected XI: In a 5-2-3 formation, LW Franco Fragapane, CF Tani Oluwaseyi, RW Sang Bin Jeong; CM Robin Lod, CM Wil Trapp; LB Joseph Rosales, CB Devin Padelford, CB Michael Boxall, CB Kervin Arriaga, RB DJ Taylor; GK Dayne St. Clair.
Stat: Rosales is the first Loons player to record a primary or secondary assist in five straight games. “Very happy to be able to contribute to the team,” he said this week through team interpreter Marleine Calderon. “And the only thing that’s left is to score a goal.”
Player to watch: Forward Rafael Navarro has scored 4 goals in each of the previous four games, but has outperformed his expected goals (2.7) in that span. The Brazilian leads Colorado with eight goals this season.
Another player to watch: Goalkeeper Zach Steffen was a hot commodity going from Columbus Crew to Manchester City in 2019 — on the recommendation of then-City Football Group scout Khaled El-Ahmad. But the former U.S. men’s national team player has cooled off. He is in the bottom 30 percentile in MLS in a handful of shot-stopping metrics this season, per fbref.com.
Prediction: MNUFC has been at its best on the road this season, while Colorado collapsed late against RSL last weekend. Colorado is averaging 2.5 goals scored across last four games, but another Minnesota counter attack leads to a smash-and-grab win. Loons, 3-2.
