Coming off a tough draw against LA Galaxy, Minnesota will face Real Salt Lake (once again). This will be the 4th time in Minnesota's past 12 matches that the two teams will face each other. However, things will look a bit different this time around. Chicho Arango who was RSL's top goal scorer from last season is no longer on the team. It would appear that RSL has yet to find a replacement for Arango at the Striker position. RSL hasn't really found their form yet this season with 2 wins and 3 losses so far in MLS play. They also lost to Costa Rican club Herediano in Concacaf Champions Cup last month as well. With that said, it will still likely be a tough task for Minnesota to come away with a result in this game.
Minnesota will have some tough decisions to make in the Midfield with Hassani Dotson undergoing surgery this week on his meniscus. A Midfield trio of Robin Lod, Joaquin Pereyra, and Wil Trapp seems like the most likely setup for this match. With that said, it will be interesting to see how Owen Gene (and Hoyeon Jung) factor into the midfield in this match and going forward in the coming weeks. Gene had his first real chance for extended minutes in the game against LA Galaxy last weekend. It looked like he started to become more comfortable as the game went on. He had a some nice involvements passing in a few buildups to help generate some attacking sequences. He looked to be more confident on the ball as well attempting to take on defenders a few times. Defensively there was also some solid interventions as well. Including a nice 1v1 recovery to win the ball from a very dangerous player in Gabriel Pec seconds before the final whistle blew to prevent him from driving towards Minnesota's box for one final scoring chance. In this match, Gene went 25/29 passing (86%) and also had 5 Defensive Actions, which was best among Minnesota's Midfielders in both categories. As mentioned above, I do think Trapp will start in this game against RSL along with Pereyra/Lod, but Gene likely gave Ramsay something to think about in terms of midfield setup with his performance against LA Galaxy. It’s also possible that Lod is maybe not quite ready to start this week after a busy international window and Gene starts for him.
I'd expect to see Ramsay go back to starting Kelvin Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi up top at Striker. Yeboah is coming off a 2 goal performance against LA Galaxy while Oluwaseyi is coming off a successful international break in which he scored a goal against the USA. Oluwaseyi also was MLS player of the week in his most recent MLS game (against Sporting KC). In other words, it would appear both of Minnesota's top Strikers have found their form in recent weeks and will likely continue to be a handful for their opposition. Where things may get interesting is the 3rd Striker spot. Sang-Bin had been playing in that role for most of the season, but has struggled to make much of an impact so far this season. Sang-Bin was given the start against LA Galaxy with Oluwaseyi away on international duty, but really wasn't as impactful as one would hope to see in that extended look.
This allowed Samuel Shashoua to get some minutes off the bench coming on for Sang-Bin. He proceeded to make the most of his 30 minute appearance. Shashoua played a key role in several attacking sequences and provided some stability in the midfield and attacking third to help maintain possession. Minnesota finished this game with their highest possession total on the year. Shashoua certainly helped with that. He went a perfect 19/19 passing the ball. He also played a role in the buildup that led to Rosales's shot that went to VAR for a handball (which Yeboah then scored the PK). Another added benefit with Shashoua being effective in stringing passes together and keeping possession going in the attacking third is that it allows Minnesota's wingbacks to have more opportunities to push higher up the field and become a threat in the attack. It's no coincidence that both Bongi Hlongwane and Joseph Rosales had their most impactful plays in the attack while Shashoua was on the field. Hlongwane and Rosales are undoubtedly 2 players that Minnesota would like to have consistently involved in attacking sequences. I'd hope with that performance, Shashoua will be have a chance to be first choice off the bench against RSL to come on for either Oluwaseyi or Yeboah.
Another part of the field that Ramsay is going to have some real tough decisions to make is at Centerback. Michael Boxall and Carlos Harvey missed last game due to international duty. Both players had great games for their respective countries. Boxall scored a game winning goal that sent New Zealand to the 2026 World Cup. Carlos Harvey was one of Panama's best performers in their 2 Nations League games against USA (1-0 win) and Mexico (Lost in the final on a PK in stoppage time). He was rated as a top 3 player on Fotmob's rating system in both games for Panama. Harvey really has done well for himself since switching from being a Midfielder to playing as a Centerback towards the end of last season.
With both of those players away, it provided a chance for Nicolas Romero to get his first start for Minnesota. Jefferson Diaz also filled in as a starter as well at Centerback. Romero looked the part in many ways. He had no issues keeping up with the speed of play. He certainly provided a physical presence on the backline with some tough challenges. He finished with 11 Defensive Actions in his first start with Minnesota. It was apparent at times that the Centerback trio of Romero, Diaz, and Morris Duggan have never played a game together before as there were some breakdowns on the backline throughout the game. Overall, it looked to be a positive first start for Romero. It's easy to see the defensive skillset he provides and why he was a highly regarded young Centerback playing in Argentina the past few years.
The story of the season so far through 5 games has to be Morris Duggan. He was a third round pick last year in the MLS Superdraft, which generally players drafted that late in the draft rarely ever even make the squad for the team that drafted them. Duggan started as a Left Centerback in the first 4 games of the season and with Boxall out last game, he made his first start as a Central Centerback against LA Galaxy. Once again Duggan played very well for Minnesota even in that new role. In this game, Duggan broke up what appeared to be great 2-3 great attacking chances for LA Galaxy. Without his interventions, there is a good chance they would have scored 1-2 goals on those chances. As seen in the clip below by @EverythingMNUFC (who is absolutely worth a follow as he does a nice job highlighting key moments in each of Minnesota's matches).
https://x.com/Tyler735_MNUFC/status/1903844815709565150
Duggan currently leads MLS in Clearances with 60 Clearances through 5 games. The next closest player in MLS has 47 Clearances. Duggan is also 3rd in MLS in Aerial Duals won this season. Sofascore currently has him rated at 7.20 this season, which is the 3rd best overall rating on Minnesota United only behind Kelvin Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi. In other words, Duggan is making it very difficult for Ramsay to take him off the field for some of these other talented Centerback options like Nicolas Romero or Jefferson Diaz. For the upcoming game against RSL, I think Ramsay will have a Centerback trio of Harvey, Boxall, and Duggan. However, Boxall has also had a busy international window half way around the world, so it’s possible Ramsay plays it safe with Boxall this weekend. If that’s the case I’d expect Romero, Duggan, and Harvey as our trio of CB’s.
Predicted Starting XI
Score Prediction
Minnesota United- 2
Real Salt Lake- 0