Minnesota United FC vs. Sporting Kansas City
USOC Fourth Round Match
Wednesday, June 15 — 7 p.m. CT
National Sports Center | Blaine, MN
After defeating St. Louis in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup, Minnesota United will play the role of happy host to MLS opponents in the fourth round. For the first time in United’s history, the club will face an MLS opponent when Sporting Kansas City makes the trip to Blaine. Sporting is the defending champions, having beaten the Philadelphia Union in an eight-round shootout.
Wednesday’s match will hopefully feature a pair of lineups comprised primarily of first-choice players. There will be little reason for Craig to rest players in advance of a friendly against Club León two weekends from now. Additionally, Kansas City—which last played on June 2nd—has until Sunday to recover for its match at home against Dallas. Sporting will be without the services of Matt Besler and Graham Zusi due to international duty.
Minnesota United – Recent Play
When Minnesota United signed Ben Speas this offseason, Carl Craig remarked, “I don’t think we’ve had that type of player in… I can’t remember the last time to be honest with you. So, he fills a massive need for us in terms of balance.” The usual caveats about small sample size aside, Craig has proven prophetic with regards to Speas’ importance to the Loons this season.
With Speas in its starting XI, Minnesota has averaged 2.0 goals and 2.3 points per game in league play this season. The Loons lost all three matches Speas missed, while scoring just 0.7 goals per game (though they did best USL side St. Louis 2-0 in the previous round of the Open Cup).
Thankfully for Minnesota, Speas returned to the starting XI in last Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Miami FC. Facing a last-placed team at home is a great way to stop a three-game losing streak, so some caution is warranted when considering the Loons’ current form. However, Minnesota has its central playmaker back, and boasts a 4-0-1 record at home this season.
Read: Minnesota United Coaches and Players: USOC Match vs. Sporting KC Could be Wide-Open Affair
Turning attention to another standout for the Loons, FiftyFive.One’s Wes Burdine seemingly went out on a limb on Neil Morris’ Inverted Triangle Podcast, stating his belief that Kevin Venegas was the best player in the NASL this season. Food for thought: the right back has tallied five assists in 10 league games, and is presently on pace to shatter the club’s single-season record of six assists.
The Loons’ preseason showing in Portland against MLS competition left a lot to be desired, but the team was still auditioning new players and lacked match fitness. Its opponents had a three-week head start relative to when the Loons began training for their 2016 campaign. Hopefully, with 11 competitive matches under its belt and fairly fit roster, Minnesota can turn in a strong showing against an MLS side.
It would be a surprise not to see Sammy Ndjock, Justin Davis, Brent Kallman, Damion Lowe, Venegas, Jack Blake, Speas and Christian Ramirez in the starting XI. Whether Ibson or Juliano Vicentini in midfield is a little less certain, and there’s a chance that the injured Jeb Brovsky could be back for the crucial matchup. If Craig opts not to tinker with the lineup that beat Miami over the weekend, Danny Cruz and Stefano Pinho would return to the wings. Lance Laing remains an option on the flank, as do Jamie Watson and J.C. Banks.
For many Minnesota players, the evening represents a chance to measure themselves against first-division competition as a potential move to MLS looms on the horizon for the club. For fans, it marks the first time in seven years Minnesota has hosted an MLS side in the Open Cup.
Sporting Kansas City
The match comes at a time when the Loons seem to have just recovered their footing after a three-game stumble. Meanwhile, Kansas City has won just once in its last 11 matches, but enter as defending US Open Cup champions, having won the tournament twice in the last four years.
Sporting Kansas City was able to snap a rough patch where they lost three of four by getting an impressive road point in Los Angeles. While a scoreless draw is rarely seen as a good sign, keeping the historically-loaded Galaxy attack from scoring is a feat which only two other teams have done this year (although both were playing at their respective homes).
Yes, the marquee USMNT duo of Besler and Zusi will be absent. However, with an attack led by Dom Dwyer, a midfield led by Benny Feilhaber and Roger Espinoza, and one of the deepest defenses in recent history (with Nuno Coelho, Kevin Ellis, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Chance Myers, Ike Opara, Seth Sinovic, and others still fieldable), Sporting Kansas City is hardly lacking for options.
SKC has been off since June 2nd, which might hurt this team more than it helps. It’s unclear how often they’ve been training over the Copa America-induced break; that said, the draw started to build some good momentum for the side that may be lost over a thirteen-day break. (Remember how the bye week after the Cosmos win affected United?) In their draw with LA, SKC completed 72% of their passes and only 62% in the attacking third.
This looks like it should be close to the same lineup we’ll see on Wednesday. As mentioned earlier, the defense corps is stacked, meaning that Medranda, Olum, and Abdul-Salaam may all be displaced for equally-capable players. The midfield is the true highlight of this lineup, as Espinoza and Feilhaber are both exceptional attackers and distributors. Paulo Nagamura himself has 246 MLS appearances to his credit, being a key piece for Sporting KC since 2012.
Outlook
Just because Sporting KC is missing their two Designated Players doesn’t mean they aren’t a dangerous opponent. Meanwhile, it would be equally ridiculous for Kansas City to assume that Minnesota’s showing at the February Simple Invitational will be indicative of their quality. This team has added some major players since the tournament and should be competitive for the full ninety. As each team looks to make an impact in this tournament, it’s not unrealistic to expect both sides to feature a first-choice XI. This should be an exciting matchup for neutrals and a tough match to predict.
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