D.C. UNITED vs. MINNESOTA UNITED FC
Audi Field | Washington, D.C.
09.29.21 | MLS Week No. 28 | MLS Game No. 26
6:30 p.m. CT (Bally Sports North+, MNUFC Radio on SKOR North)

2021 Regular Season Records (W-L-D):
DC: 11-11-4 (2-8-4 on the road)
MIN: 10-8-7 (8-3-2 at home)

MNUFC once again took down the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at Allianz Field and successfully added another clean sheet to their record. Robin Lod found the back of the net for the first time since returning from a calf injury and Ethan Finlay sealed the deal with a confusing, but much needed goal to make the final score 2-0. After securing two crucial wins and six points at home, the Loons now have another busy week on the road ahead of them. Up first, the Loons will face D.C. United for the first time since 2019. Each team sits in sixth place in their respective conference with 37 points on the season so far. Most recently, D.C. took down FC Cincinnati at home 4-2, making their record at home an impressive 9-3-0. With both teams angling for home field advantage in the playoffs, the Loons will need to make an immediate statement and leave it all on the field to secure a road win.

THE OPPOSITION

Beyond their identical placements and point totals, D.C. United and MNUFC have had strikingly similar records of late. In the last five games, MNUFC have gone 3-2-0 while D.C. United have gone 3-1-1. If you look a little closer into these games, D.C. United has a slight edge on the Loons. Each of their three wins were won by at least two goals while Minnesota blew out the Galaxy but just edged the Dynamo 2-1 at the end of August and were flattered by the 2-0 result of their recent game against Houston. D.C.’s loss was a tight 3-2 against Atlanta United while the Loons fell 1-0 to Seattle and 4-0 to SKC. Golden Boot leader Ola Kamara will need to be checked up top by a Minnesota defense that’s been one of the best in MLS for most of the season. With two games this week — both on the road — the Loons would love to get an early lead and then shut it down away from home.

Adrian Heath on D.C. United’s form and Ola Kamara’s form…

“Well Ola [Kamara] has had sort of a renaissance hasn’t he. Nobody knew what was going happen and now here he is top of the goal-scoring charts. Hernan Losada has done a great job in a short period of time. Full of energy they get after the opposition, they don’t give you a minute to play. They take a few chances and press, man-for-man, we know its going to be difficult and we have to be prepared for sure.”

Tyler Miller on momentum gained after two wins…

“We know that every game now is the most important game of the season. It’s a tight table and the Galaxy result was a great result for us, but we knew it would’ve meant nothing if we didn’t get a result against Houston. Houston was actually a harder game in terms of it being a trap game. But everybody responded well, you saw again a quick start offensively and we were able to lock it down again defensively, which we know that’s the key to success for our team.”

FIRST TOUCHES

• Miller’s goals against average leads the league among goalkeepers with at least 10 games played at 0.90 per game. MORE