Minnesota United at Seattle Sounders

When: 9 p.m. CT Friday
Where: Lumen Field
Stream: Apple TV Season Pass
Weather: 74 degrees, sunny, 9 mph south wind

Context: MNUFC, Seattle and Liga MX club Necaxa are the three teams in Leagues Cup West Group 6. The Loons will play Necaxa at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Allianz Field. Seattle and Necaxa don’t play until Aug. 4 in Washington. The top two teams advance to the knockout rounds.

Flashback: The Loons beat Puebla 4-0 and lost 3-2 to Chicago Fire in the inaugural Leagues Cup group stage last summer. United then topped Columbus and Toluca, each in penalty kicks, in the first two knockout rounds before falling 5-0 to Nashville in the quarterfinals.

Series history: The Loons have lost all nine MLS matches played in Seattle since 2017, including a 2-0 loss on June 15.

“It was one of the worst days we had out in Seattle, really strange situation,” head coach Eric Ramsay said Tuesday. “We went there on the celebration of their club’s existence, I suppose, and it took a long time for the game to get going. Then we lose (Devin Padelford to a concussion). It was as flat a game as we’ve had all year.”

View: MLS continues to undercut the quality of its products. Take Robin Lod’s week for example. The Loons midfielder got a career thrill of playing in the All-Star Game in Columbus on Wednesday, but how close that showcase comes to Friday’s Leagues Cup match puts Lod as “very unlikely” to play against Sounders, Ramsay said.

Seattle didn’t have an all-star selection this season, while the Loons are expected to be without its best player. MLS’ condensed schedule is to blame.

Absences: Michael Boxall (international duty), Wil Trapp (hamstring), DJ Taylor (hamstring), Sang Bin Jeong (personal matter) are out. Lod (all-star game) is doubtful.

Projected XI: In a 5-2-3 formation, LW Samuel Shashoua, CF Tani Oluwaseyi, RW Bongi Hlongwane; CM Hassani Dotson, CM Alejandro Bran; LWB Joseph Rosales, Devin Padelford, CB Micky Tapias, CB Carlos Harvey, RWB Caden Clark; GK Dayne St. Clair.

Check-in: Rosales has become one of the best wingbacks in MLS this season, meaning he is underpaid at $93,988 in guaranteed compensation, according to the MLS Players Association. Reports out of Honduras this week has MNUFC working on a contract extension with the improving 23-year-old.

Another check-in: Franco Fragapane is out of contract at the end of the season and reports out of Argentina link the winger in a move back to his home country. MNUFC will keep its ears open to potential value in return for the 31-year-old; that’s what Loons did in selling Kervin Arriaga to Partizan in Serbia once they were unable to reach a contract extension.

Player to watch: Hlongwane scored seven goals in 412 minutes in the 2023 Leagues Cup, challenging superstar Lionel Messi for the tournament’s golden boot. The South African is also coming off a nice header goal in the 2-0 win over San Jose in MLS play on Saturday.

Scouting report: Seattle has allowed the third-fewest goals in MLS this season (29). They had three straight shutout wins until LAFC beat them 3-0 on Saturday.

Prediction: The Loons are again so shorthanded it’s hard for them to field a quality starting lineup, and Seattle has completely owned MNUFC in Washington. It’s hard not to see more of the same as Seattle wins comfortably at 3-1.