Sporting Kansas City at Minnesota United FC
2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 10
Saturday, April 27 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:40 kickoff)
Allianz Field | St. Paul, Minnesota
Broadcast Schedule:
Apple TV | MLS Season Pass
English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
5 Things | By the Numbers | Tune In on Apple TV | Pub Partners | SKC App | MatchCenter
After a three-match homestand, Sporting Kansas City returns to the road for the first of three straight away matches this Saturday when the team takes on Minnesota United FC at 7:30 p.m. CT at Allianz Field.
Saturday's match-up will stream live on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers and pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will show all of the action, including the club's official watch party at Jefferson's in Lenexa, Kansas featuring food and drink specials as well as enter-to-win giveaways. Radio coverage will also air locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
The Western Conference clash will be the 23rd match-up across all competitions between the teams since Minnesota United FC joined MLS in 2017 -- most of any opponent for either side -- and Sporting leads the all-time series with a 12-6-4 record. SKC has won the last four regular season meetings since September 2022, outscoring the Loons 11-2 during the stretch, after a sweep of the three fixtures a year ago highlighted by a 1-0 victory at Allianz Field in September and a dramatic 3-1 win on Decision Day to vault the club into the postseason.
Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell scored twice in the previous match-up to give the Scottish winger 15 goal contributions (five goals, 10 assists) in 15 regular season appearances against Minnesota, his most versus any MLS opponent. Russell ranks third in club history in regular season goals (56) and is one shy of tying Dom Dwyer for second on the team's all-time chart.
For the first time since Major League Soccer's inaugural season in 1996, Sporting Kansas City has scored two or more goals in six straight regular season matches and will now look to set a new record with a seventh straight multi-goal game on Saturday.'German playmaker Erik Thommy leads the team with four goals - headlined by three goals in his past two matches -- while Nigerian forward Willy Agada has a team-leading five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) and Mexican striker Alan Pulido opened the scoring in last weekend's 3-3 draw against St. Louis to become the third fastest player in KC history to hit 30 regular season goals for the club.
Minnesota is also coming off a three-goal performance as the Loons earned all three points with an emphatic 3-0 road win at Charlotte FC last Sunday. Finnish international Robin Lod played a part in all three goals and he leads Minnesota in both goals (three) and assists (five) this season. The Loons have also been lifted by a strong start to the season from 23-year-old Nigerian Tani Oluwaseyi who has three goals and two assists primarily as a second-half substitute.
Minnesota has won just five of its last 21 regular season home matches since the start of 2023 (5-5-11) and will be up against a Sporting KC side that is unbeaten in four straight regular season road trips dating back to last season. Sporting has also trailed for the fewest minutes of any team in MLS this season (63 of 810 minutes played), however leads the league with 14 points dropped from winning positions.
Saturday's showdown will see Major League Soccer's newest head coach go head-to-head with the longest tenured manager in MLS as Eric Ramsay (March 2024-present) and Peter Vermes (August 2009-present) lead their respective sides. The 32-year-old Ramsay, a former assistant for Manchester United and the Welsh national team, has gone 2-2-1 in his first five MLS matches while Vermes has been involved in a league-record 717 MLS matches as a player or head coach.
