Minnesota United at New York City
When: Yankee Stadium
Where: 2 p.m. Sunday
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, Apple TV+
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Weather: 47 degrees, rain, 4 mph south wind
Betting line: NYCFC plus-120; draw plus-250; MNUFC plus-210
Form: MNUFC (3-1-2, 11 points) is unbeaten in five matches, but two of those draws included blown leads. NYCFC (2-2-2, 8 points) is coming off a barn-burning, 4-3 loss to Atlanta United.
Recent matchups: The Loons haven’t played the Pigeons since 2023, a 2-0 Minnesota win at Citi Field. Former players Jan Gregus and Mender Garcia scored for United.
News: The Loons midfield suffered another injury setback with backup Owen Gene expected to be out 2-4 weeks with an ankle injury. It comes after starter Hassani Dotson (knee) was ruled out for months after an injury suffered a week prior. MNUFC still has starters in Robin Lod, Joaquin Pereyra and Wil Trapp, but the Loons’ depth grows shallow in the short term. Gene had been called on to step up with Dotson out.
Quote: New midfielder Hoyeon Jung might be considered as another candidate to step into a contributing role, but head coach Eric Ramsay said the South Korean still needs to adjust to a new league and country:
“The nature of his character. He, again, is relatively timid and perhaps a bit of a stereotype that carries: he is really respectful, really humble, really honest,” Ramsay said. “He has yet to impose himself on the group, but he’s a good player and you can see why he is someone in that (K League 1) that has been highly rated. … Adding to that perfect storm is that we are a team that relies on real physicality, energy, discipline and ability to carry out really specific instructions, so some of the early difficulties have been based on adaptation.”
Projected starting XI: In a 5-3-2 formation, FW Tani Oluwaseyi, FW Kelvin Yeboah; MF Joaquin Pereyra, MF Robin Lod, MF Wil Trapp; LWB Joseph Rosales, CB Carlos Harvey, CB Michael Boxall, CB Jefferson Diaz, RWB Bongi Hlongwane; GK Dayne St. Clair.
Prediction: MNUFC has tightened up its defense after a two-game lull and will likely be plugging in veterans (Boxall and Harvey) into its back line. Loons get it done again, 1-0.
