In this week’s First Touches, we do a little exploring of the numbers from MLS Week 1 and find some fun tidbits, including Robin Lod’s defensive prowess, Emanuel Reynoso’s pressure, and a key to team success that Minnesota should look to replicate against Nashville.

MATCHUP QUICK FACTS

• In Minnesota’s game against Philadelphia, they were awarded just two corner kicks; in Nashville’s game against Seattle, they were awarded just one.
• The Loons single best chance of the Philadelphia game by xG was Adrien Hunou’s 92nd minute shot, which was saved by Andre Blake. The 0.27 xG from that shot was more than any other Minnesota player had from the entire match!
• Robin Lod, whose pass set that chance up, is tied for second in MLS through the first round of games with five key passes, trailing only Gonzalo Higuaín of Inter Miami.
• Lod also won three tackles in Saturday’s game against Philadelphia: no other player on Minnesota’s roster finished with more than two (Oniel Fisher and Emanuel Reynoso each had a pair).
• Minnesota’s attacking midfield trio of Reynoso, Franco Fragapane and Lod all finished with better than 75% pass completion in the match.
• Three Loons had 20 or more pressures on opposing players on Saturday: Kervin Arriaga, Hassani Dotson, and Reynoso.
• Via fbref.com, Minnesota had 1.1 xG to Philadelphia’s 0.9 xG. In 2021, Minnesota played ten matches in which they had fewer than 1.1 xG, and went 3-2-5 in those matches. However, the Loons held teams below 1.0 xG in 14 matches last season, losing just one of those (9-4-1).
• In Nashville’s game against Seattle, Dax McCarty finished with 91.5% pass completion; only Arriaga (92.1%) and Tyler Miller (95%) finished above 90% in Minnesota’s match.
• There has never been a goal in a match between these two teams: their lone matchup in 2020 finished goalless, with a Dayne St. Clair save as Minnesota’s biggest highlight.

MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS

• Before returning to Minnesota, Abu Danladi spent both of his previous two seasons in Nashville.
• Old friend Eric Miller played for Minnesota in 2018 and 2019, and is originally from Woodbury, MN. He and Brent Kallman played at both Woodbury and Creighton University together, though Miller is a couple of years younger. To go even further, Miller is married to Kallman’s sister, so they’re literally related.
• Tyler Miller and Walker Zimmerman were cornerstones of LAFC’s first two MLS seasons, and both departed after the 2019 season for their current teams.
• Current Nashville TV analyst Jamie Watson played for Adrian Heath for both Orlando City in the USL and Minnesota United in the NASL, and was previously the sideline reporter for the Loons broadcast.