Seattle Sounders FC vs. Minnesota United FC

Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington

04.22.23 | MLS Week No. 9 | MLS Game 8 

9:30 pm CT (Watch Free)

Even after being in control for the majority of the match, Minnesota United dropped three points to Orlando City SC last Saturday. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise good showing from the Black and Blue, but the match did display some positive takeaways from the Loons side. For their next game against the Seattle Sounders, MNUFC will need to find a way to turn their effort and opportunities into desired results if they want to get back into the groove that had them unbeaten for five straight games. 

Minnesota United

Run of Form: W-D-W-L-L

MNUFC has had a tough pair of games following their otherwise stellar start to the season. This team has proven that they can win matches – against large odds to boot – and though the Loons failed to obtain three points, last game’s strong effort shows they have the necessary tools to compete among the league’s elite. Midfielder Kervin Arriaga continues to impress, often winning tackles and shifting momentum into the offense. Bongokuhle Hlongwane’s speed on the wing is difficult to match and he consistently gets himself into dangerous positions – as shown by his goal. Sang Bin Jeong had his first start last Saturday, and his performance instills a lot of confidence in what he brings to the squad. On top of his ability to drop dimes from set plays, his explosiveness and creativity helped to produce multiple opportunities for the Black and Blue. Let this team cook a little longer, and the ball will find the net more often.

Seattle Sounders FC

Run of Form: D-W-W-W-L

The Seattle Sounders have hit the ground running in this early 2023 season. Last week, the Sounders held the top spot in the Western Conference with 16 points before slipping to third with a shocking 4-1 thrashing courtesy of the Portland Timbers. Seattle had been consistently performing at a high level before their uninspired play had them losing to the ninth-place team. Whether it was just a bad day or the start of a rut remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the Sounders have managed to score in droves this season, so the Minnesota United defense will need to be firing on all cylinders to slow them down. Seattle has scored 16 goals across eight games, putting them in third place for goals created. Jordan Morris has notched eight of those goals – four of which came in the match against Sporting Kansas City – currently placing him atop the race for the Golden Boot. Breakout midfielder Léo Chú has consistently fed the ball well, specifically to Morris, and their connection will need to be closely monitored.

Keys to the Match

The Finishing Touch

Minnesota United has had some trouble finding the net this season. Out of their seven games played, MNUFC has only scored one goal in six contests, and two goals in the other. Of course, the Loons have also managed to hold the other team to one or zero goals in five of those fixtures, allowing them to pick up points in five of their seven matchups thus far. However, without that extra finishing touch, games are often decided on the thinnest of margins — leaving you vulnerable to games like last Saturday, where the Loons felt as though they were clearly the better team on the night, yet found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard. Last match, MNUFC had 17 shots and 1 goal to show for it. The effort is there, the chance creation is there; the Loons just need to find that extra killer instinct and put away those opportunities.

Connections

Jordan Morris and Léo Chú have a bit of magic right now. Morris leads Seattle in goals and Chú is leading the team in assists – that’s no coincidence. In the 4-1 crushing of Sporting Kansas City, Morris produced a historic four-goal performance, but Chú was right there with him, feeding him the ball for three of those opportunities. In their 2-1 win against LA Galaxy, the connection was there again in similar fashion when Léo dribbled to the end line and crossed the ball to Jordan for the one-touch finish – nearly identical to one of their combinations against SKC. This pair appears to be highly aware of each other’s presence and has a knack for threading those passes. The Loons backline will have their hands full with these two. 

Home and Away

The Sounders have yet to lose at home this season with 3 wins and one draw at Lumen Field. On the flip side, Minnesota United has taken on a bit of a spoiler role for home teams, winning  three of their four away games. MNUFC has yet to win at Seattle in MLS history; in fact, they’ve struggled against the Sounders altogether, with a dreadful 1-1-10 record. However, this streak is begging to be broken. Last season, Seattle had decent home results with a 9-3-5 record, so while certainly a challenging environment to play in, Lumen Field is not an altogether impossible place to earn a result. With MNUFC’s current record of being undeterred by home-crowd resistance, let’s see if the Black and Blue can bruise the Seattle home form and leave the West Coast with three points.