Minnesota will aim to establish a new club record with their fifth-consecutive league home victory tonight. Its opponent, Puerto Rico, will be looking for its first-ever road win. The match is an important one for the Loons, who have the opportunity to pick up a potential six points at home this week before playing four of their following five league games on the road.

Recent Form

MNUFC	W	L	W	W	D	+7 GD	2.0 PPG
PRFC	L	D	L	W	L	-6 GD	0.8 PPG

Previous Meetings

This is the first meeting between Minnesota and Puerto Rico’s current NASL club, which began play at the start of the fall season. Against the Islanders — who operated from 2004-2012 in various leagues — Minnesota went 4-2-5 between 2010 and 2012. The Loons defeated the Islanders 2-1 away in an NASL quarterfinal, in what would be Puerto Rico’s last match before reformation in 2016.

The Loons are 9-3-8 when facing a new league opponent for the first time.

Officials

Referee	Alex Chilowicz
Assistant	Tom Felice
Assistant	Maggie Short
Fourth	Michael Cap

Chilowicz has officiated two previous Minnesota matches in his career and has issued 11 yellow cards and one red card in three matches this season.

Roster Report

Stefano Pinho (hamstring), Kevin Venegas (knee), and Sammy Ndjock (knee) remain sidelined. Jack Blake is recovering from a bout with the flu and is being held out of tonight’s contest with an eye towards returning for Saturday’s game.

Statistical Notes

Minnesota leads Puerto Rico in most statistical categories, but one noticeable difference is the Naranjas’ ability to cross the ball. Puerto Rico is averaging 3.2 successful crosses per game versus 6.5 unsuccessful attempts, whereas Minnesota has averaged just 2.3 successful crosses per game while averaging 10.9 unsuccessful efforts per contest, giving the Melos a 32.8 percent-to-17.3 percent edge in crossing accuracy.

Puerto Rico FC: Last Time Out

The Melos were no match for Lucky Mkosana, who played the killer passes that set up the Cosmos’ first two goals, before finishing their third himself. Puerto Rico had a fair share of the possession (47.9%), but put just two of seven shots on target en route to a 3-0 defeat on the road.

Adrian Whitbread used a familiar 4-4-2 in the match. The back five of David Meves, Ramón Martín Del Campo, Rudy Dawson, Cristiano Dias, and Ramón Sorio have started the Naranjas’ last three contests.

Up top, the Pedro Mendes-Héctor Ramos strike partnership has been a fixture for Puerto Rico. The latter has played every minute of the Melos’ first five games, and trails only Christian Ramirez having scored four goals in the fall season.

Like his twin brother Pedro, Paulo Mendes has also started each of Puerto Rico’s last four games. On Saturday, he was joined by Tyler Rudy, holding midfielder Michael Kafari, and winger Jorge Rivera.

Dias, who made 102 appearances for Minnesota from 2011 to 2015, has captained the Melos in each of their last three games. The center back also opened the scoring against the Cosmos with an own goal in the 10th minute.

Matchup

Only once in its last six contests — last weekend against Rayo OKC — has Minnesota out-possessed its opponent. Puerto Rico has won the battle of possession just once in its first six games since joining the NASL at the start of the fall season, doing so in its lone victory — a 1-0 home win over Rayo OKC. At home against an expansion side, the Loons should be expected to control the run of play. Minnesota boasts the league’s highest scoring offense, averaging 1.9 goals per game, while Puerto Rico is conceding an average of 1.9 goals per game so far this season.

Noting Ramos has scored four of the Naranjas’ five goals, isolating the forward will be key for Minnesota. If the Loons can force Puerto Rico to look elsewhere for its final option in the attacking third, Carl Craig’s charges should have a successful evening. From there, it boils down to having the league’s top attack break down what has been a porous Puerto Rico defense.

It will be interesting to see if Craig tinkers with his lineup following a last-minute capitulation on the road, or if a point away against a tough Rayo side was considered acceptable. Ismaila Jome produced positive moments after being handed his first start. Damion Lowe continued to be Craig’s choice to fill in at right back for Kevin Venegas. Danny Cruz might be worth a look at the position, as his work-rate is commendable, but the winger’s final ball let him down at times in Oklahoma City. That swap would allow the Loons to get another attacking player on the pitch — Jamie Watson, Ben Speas, etc. — as some squad rotation could be called for with an eye to Saturday’s game against a much-improved Miami.