MATCH PREVIEW >> Minnesota United at FC Dallas

WHEN >> 7:30 p.m. CT Wednesday

WHERE >> Toyota Stadium

STREAM >> Apple TV Season Pass

RADIO >> KSTP-AM 1500 ESPN

WEATHER >> 81 degrees, 10 percent chance of rain

BETTING LINE >> Dallas even; draw plus-260; MNUFC plus-260

SERIES HISTORY >> The Loons haven’t lost a regular-season game at Toyota Stadium since 2020, with two wins and two draws in Frisco, Texas, over the past three seasons.

CONTEXT >> FC Dallas fired coach Nico Estévez following his team’s 1-1 draw at Allianz Field on June 8. Assistant coach Peter Luccin, who has been an assistant in Dallas for four seasons and was a coach in the team’s academy before that, took over as interim head coach for the rest of 2024.

FORM >> Minnesota (8-4-5, 29 points) has earned just five points over its last five games, its worst stretch of the season to date. FC Dallas (4-8-5, 17 points) earned its first win in six games last Saturday, beating St. Louis City 2-0.

ABSENCES >> Dayne St. Clair, Tani Oluwaseyi, Carlos Harvey, and Alejandro Bran (international duty) are away for Copa América. Teemu Pukki (knee), Hugo Bachararch (knee), Devin Padelford (concussion), and Moses Nyeman (red card suspension) are out. DJ Taylor (hamstring) is doubtful. Michael Boxall (ankle) and Wil Trapp (waiting for child to be born) are questionable.

STORYLINE >> MLS rosters include 30 players, but the Loons may be down to exactly half that for Wednesday’s game. Given the potential absence of the 11 players listed above, plus four more currently on loan to other teams, the Loons could be left with just 15 players with first-team contracts — plus a number that may be signed on a short-term basis from MNUFC2.

“This is the most challenging set of circumstances that I’ve experienced as a coach,” manager Eric Ramsay said. “We’re sort of pushed right towards our limit, I would say at the moment, but I wasn’t expecting my first season here to be plain sailing at all. I think the way it’s gone so far has been a really pleasant surprise. So, I’m probably due a little bit of this.”

KEY STATS >> Loons forwards have combined for just one goal over the past four games, and that was scored by Tani Oluwaseyi, currently away with the Canadian national team. Without Oluwaseyi and the now-injured Teemu Pukki over the past two games, Minnesota’s attacking trios have struggled. The team’s front three — chiefly Franco Fragapane, Bongokuhle Hlongwane, and Jordan Adebayo-Smith — haven’t produced a shot on target in the last 150 minutes of play.

QUOTE >> “I think typically we’re a team that we want to attack quickly, we want to play forward quickly and attack more often than not. We don’t want to be overly patient, but I think we really haven’t found that balance well in the last couple of games, and we’re finding ourselves defending far more quickly than we’d like once we’ve broken into the opposition’s final third.” — Ramsay

PROJECTED XI >> In a 5-2-3 formation, LW Franco Fragapane, CF Bongokuhle Hlongwane, RW Sang Bin Jeong; CM Robin Lod, CM Hassani Dotson; LWB Joseph Rosales, LCB Miguel Tapias, CB Michael Boxall, RCB Kervin Arriaga, RWB Caden Clark; GK Clint Irwin.

SCOUTING REPORT >> Goalkeeper Maarten Paes was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for making eight saves against St. Louis City, helping steal a win in Luccin’s head coaching debut. It was a reversal from the previous week, when Paes’ poor passing led directly to Minnesota’s only goal in a 1-1 draw at Allianz Field.

PREDICTION >> FC Dallas has struggled this season, but they’re playing at home, and benefiting from the tailwind of having a new coach. The Loons are struggling just to field a team right now, never mind find the net, and their woes continue in a 2-0 loss.

Related Articles

Loons add another ‘L’ to lifetime losing streak in Seattle

How Minnesota United climbed to the top of MLS’s Western Conference