Another Saturday, another night of top-notch soccer at Allianz Field. In the midst of the busiest part of the season so far, the Loons are juggling regular-season matches with U.S. Open Cup play, and the stars just so happened to align such that St. Louis comes to town twice in a row. That’s right — the all-caps CITY comes to town this Saturday, only to return for USOC’s Round of 16 four days later. Get ready for the St. Louis stretch, because Minnesota’s going big on the home pitch.

Run of Form

Minnesota United FC (6-3-4)
Run of Form: L-W-W-W-L (All Competitions)

The Loons have 22 points and enough determination to fuel a snow plow brigade. But since we don’t need snow plows right now, all that energy is being brought onto the pitch. The guys had a tough loss in Houston last night, but with eight changes to the starting lineup, they quite literally weren’t the same team who dominated Miami 4-1 on Matchday 12. They couldn’t snag a road win, but Kieran Chandler’s MLS debut was an impressive one, and now your starters are home, rested, and ready to go.

St. Louis CITY SC (2-6-5)
Run of Form: D-L-W-L-D (All Competitions)

Things aren’t exactly smooth sailing for St. Louis at the moment, with their regular-season winless streak stretching to nine last night. Their strengths have fluctuated over the course of the season from a strong defense lacking scoring ability to a more effective attack with a less impactful backline, and they can’t seem to strike a balance. There’s a bright spot in the form of Roman Bürki’s return to the pitch, but he may still need some time to settle in after being out of commission for two months. Following their rivalry week draw against SKC, St. Louis is down to 14th in the West. They’ll be hungry for their second road win of the season against a Minnesota side known for their defensive acumen.

Keys to the Match:

High Energy

Professional footballers are used to playing a lot of games; that’s just how the ball rolls. But Dayne St. Clair, Wil Trapp, and Jefferson Díaz were the lone regular starters on the Houston pitch last night. Joaquín Pereyra, Robin Lod, Tani Oluwaseyi, Bongokuhle Hlongwane, and Carlos Harvey all subbed in for the end of the Houston game, but apart from St. Clair, none of the Minnesota mainstays who played against Miami logged a full 90 in Houston.. Whether this heralds the return of the 3-4-2-1 we played against Miami or the classic 5-3-2, the 11 Boys in Black and Blue who stack up against CITY on Saturday won’t be as tired as St. Louis mainstays like Marcel Hartel, Cedric Teuchert, and Kyle Hiebert, who have played 270, 219, and 346 minutes, respectively, so far this month. They might be sponsored by Energizer, but our guys are going to be the ones with fresh batteries. That plus the energy of the home pitch should give them an edge against the red and blue and yellow and gray and… what are their colors, exactly?

Ready, Set, Go

Minnesota still leads the conference in set-piece scoring, and they’re particularly strong when it comes to corners and long throws (thanks, Boxy). Seven of the team’s 19 goals have come from set pieces. Both sides have only conceded three goals on set pieces, and two of those goals against Minnesota came from the Houston match. Regardless of how well a team is doing in the run of play, set pieces are dangerous, and they have the ability to make or break a match at any time. If Minnesota can engineer corners for Joaquín Pereyra and keep being attentive about box positioning, they may be able to swing the scoreline the way Houston did last night. On the other side of things, guard needs to be up when those opportunities come for the other team — it’s the easiest time in a match to give up points fast.

Rule of Thirds

Here’s a little riddle for you: What’s important in track and field, stand-up comedy, and this weekend’s soccer game? Okay, your time’s up. And that’s your answer, too — timing. It seems like St. Louis’ defense is tough at the outset but wears down after the half. They’ve so far allowed 11 goals in the last half hour of play. Minnesota has scored six times in the last thirty minutes of a match this season. Six isn’t a small number, but it’s nothing like the 11 first-half goals we’ve got under our belts. That makes things tricky, because St. Louis has only conceded in the first half four times. (Minnesota has only conceded twice, which is more impressive, but I’m putting this in parentheses because it’s not my point.) Of course, I’d rather the Black and Blue just score five times in the first half and be done with it, but if the Loons want to hit CITY at their weakest, they’ll need to be in top form at the end of the game. For the Loons, this might look like Ramsay’s tried-and-true method of swapping to a 5-3-2 at the hour mark and revitalizing the field with some fresh legs.