Sporting Kansas City will be looking to snap their run of five defeats from their opening five games when they play host to Minnesota United at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday night.
This will be the second meeting between the two sides within the space of five weeks, with the Loons claiming an emphatic 6-0 victory when they squared off in a pre-season tie in California.
Match preview
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Sporting Kansas City were left empty handed yet again they suffered a 2-1 defeat against DC United in their MLS clash at the Audi Field last Sunday.
Following a goalless first half, veteran midfielder Erik Thommy struck in the 53rd minute to put the visitors in front but Christian Benteke and Hosei Kijima netted in an eight-minute spell to help DC United turn the game on its head.
Sporting Kansas City have now lost each of their last five matches this season, a run which has seen them crash out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup courtesy of a 4-1 aggregate defeat against fellow MLS side Inter Miami.
Their early-season struggles has been in keeping with their poor performances in pre-season, where Peter Joseph Vermes's men lost four and managed just one draw from their five warm-up games while conceding 12 goals and scoring just twice in that time.
While Sporting Kansas City will be looking to get their season up and running this weekend, they face the challenge of an opposing side who have won each of the last four meetings between the teams, including an emphatic 6-0 victory in their pre-season clash on February 9.
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Minnesota United, on the other hand, secured their first away win of the new MLS campaign as they edged out San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 when the two sides squared off at PayPal Park.
Italian forward Kelvin Yeboah was the hero for Minnesota United once again as he struck to hand them a third consecutive victory over San Jose since a 1-1 stalemate in October 2023.
Before that, Minnesota United kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 defeat against Los Angeles FC at the BMO Stadium on February 22, one week before bouncing back in a 1-0 victory over Montreal thanks to Yeboah's first goal of the season.
Eric Ramsay's men have come into the new season looking to improve on their performance from last season, when they finished sixth in the Western Conference standings before reaching the playoff semi-finals, where they suffered a 6-2 hammering at the hands of LA Galaxy.
Minnesota will be backing themselves to pick up from where they left off against San Jose last time out as they take on an opposing side who have lost each of their most recent four meetings, including a 6-0 thrashing in their pre-season clash on February 9.
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Team News
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Khiry Shelton has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury in the pre-season clash against Minnesota and the 31-year-old forward is ruled out of Sunday's tie.
American defender Andrew Brody missed the game against DC United last time out through a muscle problem and the 29-year-old is a doubt for the home side.
Minnesota United remain without several players down the spine of the team as Kipp Keller (thigh) Joseph Rosales (muscle), D.J. Taylor (thigh) continue their spells on the sidelines.
Loic Mesanvi picked up an ankle injury in the February season curtain-raiser against Los Angeles FC and the 21-year-old forward is set to sit out his third consecutive game.
Yeboah has been on song for Minnesota United and the 24-year-old striker, who netted nine goals in 12 league matches last season, will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Pulskamp; Davis, Rosero, Fernandez, Ndenbe; Bassong, Radoja; Suleymanov, Garcia, Thommy; Joveljic
Minnesota United possible starting lineup:
St. Clair; Diaz, Boxall, Duggan, Hlongwane, Markanich; Dotson, Trapp, Lod; Oluwaseyi, Yeboah
We say: Sporting Kansas City 1-1 Minnesota United
It has been an underwhelming start to the campaign for Sporting Kansas City and they will head into the weekend looking to stop the rot. While Minnesota appear to have hit their stride, we predict that Vermes's men will make the most of their home advantage and hold out for a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
