Minnesota United at Houston Dynamo: Keys to the match, projected starting XI and a prediction (2024)

When: 7:30 p.m. Central Time, Saturday

Where: Shell Energy Stadium, Houston

Stream: Apple TV – Free game

Radio: KSTP-AM 1500 ESPN

Weather: 87 degrees, dew point of 76 (miserably humid), 30% chance of rain

Betting line: Dynamo minus-150, draw plus-300, Loons plus-380

Series history: In mid-April, Minnesota controlled the game against Houston at Allianz Field, but the Dynamo walked away 2-1 winners. Before that game, the Loons had won seven consecutive games against Houston; Minnesota hasn’t lost away against the Dynamo since September 2020.

Form: Minnesota (8-9-5) extended its losing streak to a club-record six games with a 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy last Sunday. Houston (8-7-6) had its game last weekend postponed due to Hurricane Beryl, but was on a six-game unbeaten run before losing at Real Salt Lake 10 days ago.

Storyline: Houston broke the bank to sign new forward Ezequiel Ponce from AEK Athens in Greece, a club-record fee that several news sources reported was in the range of $8 million. The Loons may be getting the Dynamo at the right time; Ponce can’t play until the transfer window opens on Thursday.

Quote: “I’m not going to give much air to the narrative that we only do the same thing week after week because I think there are a lot of subtleties that really differ.” — Loons manager Eric Ramsay, explaining that his team isn’t wedded to playing with a simple back five on defense. The coach explained that even when his team defends with a back five, they often use their wingbacks such that they are attacking as if they were playing with four defenders, not five.

Absences: Dayne St. Clair and Tani Oluwaseyi (international duties) are out. DJ Taylor (hamstring), Wil Trapp (hamstring), Clint Irwin (groin), Moses Nyeman (ankle) and Hugo Bacharach (knee) are out.

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Check-in: Michael Boxall was named to New Zealand’s Olympic team for the Paris Games this summer and will depart following Minnesota’s home game on July 20. According to the Loons captain, he wouldn’t have gone had Minnesota been playing MLS games during the tournament, rather than the Leagues Cup.

The captain has been to two previous Olympics with New Zealand and said that the soccer teams get a different, less-enticing experience. “You’re not in the actual host city, you’re not really in the Olympic village, so you kind of miss out on that. You feel a little separated from it all,” said Boxall. New Zealand’s three group-stage games are in Marseille and Nice, which are 496 and 587 miles, respectively, from the Stade de France in Paris.

Projected XI: In a 5-2-3 formation, LW Bongokuhle Hlongwane, CF Teemu Pukki, RW Sang Bin Jeong; CM Robin Lod, CM Alejandro Bran; LWB Joseph Rosales, LCB Devin Padelford, CB Micky Tapias, RCB Michael Boxall, RWB Caden Clark; GK Alec Smir

Scouting report: Houston is signing Ponce in part because the Dynamo is having trouble scoring. Austin is the only team in the Western Conference with fewer than Houston’s 29 goals this season. The Loons, meanwhile, have allowed 16 goals in their six-game losing run, causing manager Eric Ramsay to say that his team needed to go “back to basics” defensively.

Prediction: Minnesota has been close to picking up points in several games during its losing streak, and the Loons finally pull it off in this one with a 1-1 draw.