Minnesota United vs. Houston Dynamo | 2020 MLS Match Preview

2020 MLS Regular Season – Week 19
Minnesota United FC vs. Houston Dynamo
Allianz Field – Saint Paul
October 18 – 8:00 PM ET

STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US; on DAZN in Canada

LOCAL TV: QuestTEXAS Ch. 55, FOX Sports North

Minnesota United hope to extend an unbeaten streak to four matches against a Houston Dynamo squad with just one win in their last nine games when the Western Conference foes square off Sunday night at Allianz Field. 

The Loons (6W-5L-5D) are coming off a 0-0 draw with Nashville SC, while the Dynamo (4W-7L-7D) suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Nashville. 

This is the third meeting this season, and first at Allianz Field. The Dynamo won 3-0 on Sept. 2 behind Ariel Lassiter's second-half brace and the teams shared the points in a 2-2 draw Sept. 19.

Minnesota United

The Week 18 match between Minnesota United and Chicago Fire FC scheduled for Wednesday night was postponed due to a suspected case of COVID-19 among the Minnesota United team delegation. 

The match was postponed to allow for further testing and evaluation. It was the second consecutive Minnesota United match postponed. The Week 17 encounter against FC Dallas was postponed following two confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 among the Minnesota United player pool.

• Updated team roster
• Injury Report:
  • OUT: Tyler Miller (GK) - hip injury
  • OUT: Ike Opara (D) - undisclosed injury
  • OUT: Luis Amarilla (F) - undisclosed injury
  • QUESTIONABLE: Greg Ranjitsingh (GK) - undisclosed injury
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: Michael Boxall (D)
• International duty:  None

Houston Dynamo

The Dynamo suffered back-to-back defeats to expansion sides when they fell at home to Nashville SC 3-1 Wednesday night. Nashville exploded for three goals in the opening 23 minutes, making Darwin Quintero's 75th-minute goal largely cosmetic.

Quintero will be making his return to Minnesota for the first time since that club's first-ever Designated Player was traded in the offseason and first-year coach Tab Ramos is hoping Quintero's homecoming can be successful to get the Dynamo back into the top eight in the West.  

“I felt that this was the game that would get us back into the playoff picture,” Ramos said after the match. “If I have to be honest, I was sort of counting on it. It's disappointing because basically in the first 10 minutes, we lost the game in a way that we thought we couldn't possibly lose it, because we prepared for that. Losing balls in the middle of the field that turned into a turnover and a quick goal in the opposite way. That's exactly how we lost it."

• Updated team roster
• Injury Report:
  • OUT: Michael Salazar (F) - right knee injury
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: Boniek Garcia (M), Memo Rodriguez (M)
• International duty:  None

Series Matchup at Minnesota United

• Minnesota United: 2 wins, 3 goals
• Dynamo: 0 wins, 1 goal
• 1 draw

Officials

• Referee: Ted Unkel
• Assistant Referees: Jeremy Kieso, Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein
• 4th Official: Elton Garcia
• VAR: Chris Penso