Sporting Kansas City v Minnesota United: Ramsay determined to find attacking balance

Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay wants his team to find a balance in their attack as they look to make it three wins on the bounce against Sporting Kansas City in MLS.

After losing their opener to Los Angeles FC, Minnesota have since beaten CF Montreal and San Jose Earthquakes, with all of their matches finishing 1-0.

They sit fourth in the early standings as one of three teams on six points in the Western Conference but have scored the fewest goals of any team currently in the top nine.

Ramsay is confident in his team’s attacking ability but admits there is still more they can do in the final third.

“Obviously, we’re a very good counterattacking team,” he said.

“We’ve got players that want to play forward quickly and run forward in threes, fours, fives, with real intensity and pace. But we can’t do that every time we have the ball.

“We’ve got forwards that want to attack the goal, it’s as simple as that, so I want to make sure we play to those strengths. But there is a fine line you tread there.”

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— MNUFC Academy (@MNUFC_Academy) March 13, 2025

Sporting KC, meanwhile, are second from bottom in the table after losing all three of their games so far.

They are one of just three teams across MLS yet to pick up a single point in the league but have back-to-back home games ahead of them.

Head coach Peter Vermes has targeted these two matches as the perfect time to get their first win but acknowledged they face a tough test on Saturday.

“The key is we have got to take our next game and be ready for it, and we’ll deal with the ones thereafter,” Vermes said.

“But we have got to really be ready and prepared for the game. It’s going to be a tough opponent, but we have got to take advantage of points at home.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sporting Kansas City – Erik Thommy

Erik Thommy opened the scoring in the 53rd minute against D.C. United before United equalized in the 60th and scored the winning goal at 68′.

The seven minutes between Thommy’s opener and D.C.’s equalizer is the only time Sporting have led over their current 10-match losing streak.

Minnesota United – Kelvin Yeboah

Dating back to last season’s playoffs, Kelvin Yeboah has scored Minnesota’s last four goals.

Yeboah is the third Minnesota player to score four straight team goals (regular season and playoffs), after Robin Lod in 2022 and Teemu Pukki in 2023.

Training from up above pic.twitter.com/PeZDtq2VNn

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) March 12, 2025

MATCH PREDICTION: MINNESOTA UNITED WIN

Minnesota have won three straight matches against Kansas City in all competitions for the first time in club history. The Loons won their last visit to Kansas City 2-0 in September 2024, their first win in 10 all-time regular-season matches at Sporting (L9).

Minnesota have recorded consecutive 1-0 wins after losing their opening match 1-0 to Los Angeles FC. Only four teams in MLS history have seen fewer than two goals scored in each of their first four matches of a season, most recently the New England Revolution (first five) in 2013.

Meanwhile, Kansas City have lost 10 straight matches in all competitions dating back to last September. The only MLS team with a longer losing streak over all competitions was FC Cincinnati, who lost 14 straight in 2021-22.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Sporting Kansas City – 32.5%

Draw – 25.5%

Minnesota United – 42%