Minnesota United v Sporting Kansas City: Ramsay urges Loons to “look in the mirror hard”

Eric Ramsay wants Minnesota United to move on quickly from their poor run of form, starting with Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

Minnesota were on a five-match winning run in the MLS, but have failed to win either of their previous two outings, drawing with Colorado Rapids before losing to Los Angeles FC in midweek.

They still sit fourth in the Western Conference, though, and are only five points behind leaders Real Salt Lake.

Ramsay remains optimistic despite their recent form, but admits they need to address the problems sooner rather than later.

“The general level of performance [in the last game] was obviously far better than the one before,” he said.

“We certainly showed some positive steps, but I know the big thing for us is that we approach Saturday’s game with real positivity in a real constructive way. We’ve got to see [the loss to LAFC] for what it is and move on swiftly.

“We really want to look in the mirror hard, and we’ve got to go and meet the conditions on Saturday with everything that we’ve got.”

Kansas City sit at the opposite end of the table, with just 11 points after winning only two of their games so far this season.

After suffering their sixth consecutive loss, Peter Vermes admitted they have a tough test ahead of them due to their poor start.

Not good. We’re in last place in our division, so we’re not in a good spot,” said Vermes.

“We’ve got to keep fighting. I can’t sit here and say there’s no effort because there is, for sure. We’ve just got to cut down these mistakes. We’ve got a good group, and something’s got to turn our way, and then we can ride that.”

Shifting our focus to Saturday. pic.twitter.com/7t9ucUVltu

— Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) May 30, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Minnesota United – Robin Lod

Lod has recorded a goal contribution in six straight home matches. This is the third-longest regular-season streak of goal contributions in home appearances in the Loons’ MLS history after a 13-match streak by Lod himself in 2020-21 and a seven-match run by Darwin Quintero in 2018.

Sporting Kansas City – Martinos Tzionis

Tzionis scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday, becoming the 12th different Kansas City player to score in regular-season play in 2024, most in MLS.

MATCH PREDICTION: MINNESOTA UNITED WIN

Minnesota ended a four-match losing streak against Kansas City with a 2-1 victory on April 27. Minnesota have never defeated Kansas City twice within a single regular season.

The Loons recorded a 2-1 win over Portland in their last home match. Minnesota have not won two straight at Allianz Field in all competitions since wins over Austin FC and Houston Dynamo in August 2022.

Meanwhile, Kansas City have lost six consecutive regular-season matches for the first time since a seven-match losing streak in 2006. Sporting are winless in nine straight league matches and could equal the longest single-season winless run in club history at 10 (set in 2011, matched in 2023).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Minnesota United – 52.5%

Draw – 24.3%

Sporting Kansas City – 23.2%