Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Major League Soccer clash between Dallas and Minnesota United, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Dallas will be looking to pick up back to back wins for the first time this term when they entertain the challenge of Minnesota United on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the away side head to the Toyota Stadium seeking to end a barren run of results which has seen them win just one of their last five matches.
Match preview
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Dallas ended a four-game winless run courtesy of a routine 2-0 triumph over St. Louis City as the teams faced off in Texas on Sunday morning.
Peter Luccin‘s men opened the scoring just shy of the half-hour mark through Jesus Ferreira‘s penalty after which Nkosi Tafari sealed the deal nine minutes from time.
While Toros remain 12th in the Western Conference of the MLS table, they have now closed the gap from playoff contention to four points.
Awaiting them next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit with little to choose over the last eight meetings which have yielded two wins apiece and four stalemates.
Unbeaten in six straight home matches leading up to Thursday’s clash, the hosts will fancy their chances of securing a positive result in front of their fans.
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Aiming to stretch their mini two-game unbeaten run, Minnesota United were on the receiving end of a 2-0 loss against Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field on Sunday.
Eric Ramsay‘s men went into the interval trailing to Jordan Morris‘s opener before Paul Rothrock put the game to bed two minutes shy of the hour mark.
With 29 points picked up from 17 matches this term, The Loons sit fourth in the Western Conference standings, five points shy of leaders Real Salt Lake having played one game fewer.
Off the back of consecutive defeats in their last two outings on the road, Thursday’s visitors set out to avoid coming up empty-handed from a third straight away game for the first time since December.
Dallas Major League Soccer form:
Minnesota United Major League Soccer form:
Team News
Moses Nyeman will not be playing any part for Minnesota United here after he was sent off in the defeat to Seattle Sounders last time out.
The away side will also have to make do with the absence of Hugo Bacharach Capedevila and Emanuel Reynoso, who remain sidelined through injury.
Dallas’ Geovane Jesus has not featured since last season due to a long-term knee problem and the defender is still a considerable way off returning to action.
Paxton Pomykal misses out for the hosts through a damaged ankle, while 21-year-old Alan Velasco is yet to fully recuperate from a back injury.
Dallas possible starting lineup:
Paes; Ibeagha, Gonzalez, Tafari; Arriola, Lletget, Illarramendi, Farfan; Ferreira, Delgado, Musa
Minnesota United possible starting lineup:
Irwin; Adebayo-Smith, Tapias, Boxall, Arriaga, Clark; Fragapane, Dotson, Lod; Jeong, Hlongwane
We say: Dallas 2-1 Minnesota United
Both teams have struggled at the back this term and we expect neither to come away with a clean sheet here. That said, we are also tipping Dallas to just about get the job done come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.