“I will always live in Minneapolis. It’s so cold, it keeps the bad people out.”
Prince
8th in the West FC Dallas (11 pts, 3-3-2) travels north to take on the Loons of 2nd in the West Minnesota United (15 pts, 4-1-3) at Allianz Field in St Paul at 7:30 CT.
Minnesota has 4 shutouts on the season and is tied for 2nd in MLS with just 7 goals allowed.
Broadcast Info
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
– Apple TV English: Tyler Terens, Kyndra de St Aubin
– Apple TV Spanish: Diego Pessolano, Daniel Chapela
– Dallas Audio: Ryan Figert and Steve Davis.
MLS Injury/Player Availability Report
FC Dallas
Léo Chú – Knee (Out)
Marco Farfan – Legs (Out)
Geovane Jesus – Knee (Out)
Sebastian Lletget- Upper Leg (Out)
Petar Musa – Ankle (Out)
Enzo Newman – Knee (Out) <== confirmed as an ACL.
Paxton Pomykal – Knee (Out)
Suspension after 2 more yellows: Ramiro, Lucho Acosta, Eric Quill
Minnesota United
Hassani Dotson – Knee (Out)
Owen Gene – Ankle (Out)
Kipp Keller – Leg (Out)
FC Dallas Lineup Prediction
Coach Eric Quill is facing pressure from two directions on the lineup this week. First, the absolutely horrible performance last week, and second, the mounting injury list.
Given that the Loons want nothing to do with the ball, even less so than Los Toros (38% possession vs 46% according to MLS somewhat unreliable stats), I figure we might see a fair bit of low block by the Loons in their 3-5-2. Dallas will perhaps want players who can break down a defense with a dribble rather than get vertical behind a defense. Dallas, not being possession kings, might struggle to draw Minnesota out so they can get behind.
So I’m rolling the dice on Quill going with his preferred 4-2-3-1 so he can drop an 8, Patrickson Delgado, and bring on a dribbling/passing wing, like Pedrinho. Obviously, Logan Farrington is in for Petar Musa.
Given the price for Kaick, I think he plays next to Ramiro. But you could slot in a Delgado or Show Cafumana there as well if you prefer.
The other option would be to stay with the 4-3-1-2 (aka a diamond 4) the team has used for about a month with Delgado in as the extra 8. Keeping Farrington and Anderson Julio with Lucho Acosta up top.
Bench Prediction
Michael Collodi
Lalas Abubakar
Bernie Kamungo
Patrickson Delgado
Tsiki Ntsabeleng
Show Cafumana
Diego Garcia
Alvaro Augusto
Tarik Scott
MLS Kit Assignments
Looks a lot like last week.
Officials
Ref: Abdou Ndiaye
AR1: Cory Richardson
AR2: Eric Weisbrod
4th: Ismir Pekmic
VAR: Kevin Stott
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert
More Game Info
- FCD vs. MIN all-time: 7-7-4 (27 goals scored, 24 goals conceded)
- FCD vs. MIN away: 2-5-2 (8 goals scored, 13 goals conceded)
Per Sportec, Minnesota United has yet to concede a goal from a counterattack or a corner kick.
The Burn is tied for the lead in MLS for counterattack goals with 3.
Minn’s Tani Oluwaseyi has 5 goals, tied for 2nd in MLS.
FCD is 3-2-0 in games decided by one goal.
Minnesota is on a 7-game unbeaten streak after the club’s 0-0 draw against Toronto.
Robin Lod is the all-time leading goal scorer for Minnesota United in MLS club history with a total of 32 goals across all competitions.
Dallas is unbeaten in the last 23 MLS matches when leading at halftime (W17, D6) since May 19, 2022.
Sebastien Ibeagha is tied for fifth across MLS in aerial challenges won with 23 and ranks 13 in MLS in clearances with 14.
Tani Oluwaseyi is the second MNUFC player to score a brace in back-to-back MLS game appearances. (Emanuel Reynoso in 2022)
Dallas ranks fifth in aerial challenges won with 108.
FCD is tied third in MLS in clearances with 80.
Dallas ranks 19th in xG across MLS with 11.42 xG.
