The derby of the round in the MLS, or at least in the Western Conference, will see the teams ranked second and third in the standings meet on the night between Saturday and Sunday when Minnesota United will host San Diego FC.
Both teams enter this game with 30 points from 17 matches, sitting five points behind the conference and league leaders Vancouver Whitecaps, but also just one point ahead of Portland Timbers, who could overtake the loser of this game.
Minnesota are undefeated in their last four games (W2, D2), so they'll be hoping to continue this run, despite missing some key players like Tani Oluwaseyi and Dayne St. Clair, who are away with their national teams.
San Diego have won five of their last seven matches in the league, so they are also in very good form at the moment. However, San Diego have also lost four of their last five away matches, so they'll have to do much better against one of the top teams in the league if they want to get anything out of this match.
How the bookies view it: Hosts the more likely winners
According to the odds at Boylesports, Minnesota United are the favourites in this match at 20/21 odds. Meanwhile, San Diego running away with three points is priced at 21/10, which is enticing considering Minnesota are without their first-choice goalkeeper and top scorer for this game. Meanwhile, a draw comes with 5/2 odds at Boylesports.
Recent head-to-head: No previous meetings
This is the first-ever season in the MLS for San Diego, so these two teams will meet for the first time on Sunday morning.
Players to watch: San Diego's wingers to steal the show
Anders Dreyer and Hirving Lozano have combined for 11 goals for San Diego this season, but they also have 12 assists between the two of them as well. So, they are running the show in San Diego and we can see that being the case against Minnesota as well.
Boylesports offers 5/2 odds on both Dreyer and Lozano to score at any time, but since Lozano could actually miss the game or come off the bench since he's dealing with a minor injury, we would go with Dreyer to score.
Predicted line-ups
The hosts have been hit hard by the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup since their top scorer Tani Oluwaseyi and their starting goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair are both away with the Canadian national team. Meanwhile, Joseph Rosales is representing Honduras, while Kipp Keller and Hassani Dotson are out with injuries.
San Diego will also have a couple of their players at the Gold Cup, such as Luca de la Torre and Anibal Godoy. They also have a few injured players – Hamady Diop, Andres Reyes, and Manu Duah. Hirving Lozano is also listed as questionable with a minor injury, but he should be able to start the match.
Minnesota: Rizvanovich, Hlongwane, Boxall, Harvey, Romero, Markanich, Lod, Trapp, Gene, Pereyra, Yeboah
San Diego: Dos Santos, McVey, McNair, Bombino, Verhoeven, Alvarado Jr, Tverskov, Iloski, Dreyer, Lozano, Valakari
Anything else catch the eye?
Minnesota are averaging 2.63 total goals per game when hosting this season in the MLS, while San Diego are averaging 3.00 total goals in their away matches in the league. So, over 2.5 total goals sounds like a smart bet at 3/4 odds.
GambleAware