2 weeks Ago By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press
MLS Cup Playoffs: Minnesota United at Real Salt Lake When: 8 p.m. CT Tuesday Where: American First Field, Sandy, Utah Stream: Apple TV Season Pass Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500 Weather: 45 degrees, cloudy, 11 mph south wind Betting line: Salt Lake minus-105; draw plus-275; MNUFC plus-240 Form: The sixth-seeded Loons went 6-1-1 in their final eight regular-season matches.
Third-seeded RSL went 4-3-1 in its final eight. History: MNUFC and RSL played to two draws in their two matchups this season: 0-0 in Utah on Oct. 2 and 1-1 in St.
Paul on April 6. Robin Lod assisted on Tani Oluwaseyi’s 86th-minute equalizer in the first meeting. Quote: On the matchup with RSL, Loons head coach Eric Ramsay didn’t want the idea of it being a “favorable” matchup to be considered disrespectful because every game is tough at this stage but: “If you can use the word favorable at this stage of the season, I think it’s maybe as favorable as we could have gotten, given that we’ve been there recently.
We’ve given them two very good games. We’re in a very good place relative to where we have been over the course of the year. And they are maybe in a slightly less good place, if you look at the form table.
” Schedule: The opening-round, best-of-three series starts with Game 1 on Tuesday in Utah, followed by Game 2 at 8 p.m. Saturday at Allianz Field.
Game 3, if necessary, would be 8 p.m. Nov.
8 in Utah. Format: If a match is tied at the end of regulation, it will go straight to penalty kicks to decide a winner. Aggregate score from the matches does not factor in.
Ramsay has put a focus on the potential for PKs and invited front-office staff to training on Monday to create pressure on players as they took PKs. Note: Approximately 40 members of the club’s front-office staff will make the trip to Utah, with roughly 30 supporters expected to be in the away end of the stadium. Stat: All eight clubs that won Game 1s in the 2023 playoffs — the first year of this best-of-three format — went on to win the series.
This fact puts an even bigger onus on Tuesday’s match. Absences: Matus Kmet (thigh) is out, while Zarek Valentin (Achilles tendon) is out for the year. Projected XI: In a 5-2-3 formation, FW Joaquin Pereyra, FW Kelvin Yeboah, FW Robin Lod; MF Hassani Dotson, MF Wil Trapp; LWB Joseph Rosales, CB Jefferson Diaz, CB Michael Boxall, CB Carlos Harvey, RWB Bongi Hlongwane; GK Dayne St.
Clair. Key: How Ramsay deploys substitutes could flip the outcome of the match. When he brought on Oluwaseyi, Sang Bin Jeong and Franco Fragapane, the trio combined for multiple goals in the 4-1 win over St.
Louis in the regular-season finale. Ramsay doesn’t view the roles of “finishers” to complement the starters lightly. Scouting report: RSL’s Cristian Arango has not scored in MLS play since July 6, but the Colombian forward has still been active with 14 shots and 1.
5 expected goals across the past four games, including 0.6 xG on four shots against MNUFC on Oct. 2.
Both Ramsay and Boxall looked to the importance of cutting off service to Arango, who was sixth in MLS with 17 goals in 2024. Prediction: MNUFC was the third-hottest club in MLS to close the regular season (2.1 points per match).
The Loons are healthy, have played well on the road this season and Ramsay has had 10 days to prepare for RSL. The rich vein of form continues. Loons win 2-1.
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