Minnesota United visit Nashville SC on Saturday as both teams look to continue unbeaten starts to their season.
Minnesota and Nashville have identical 1-0-1 records through the first two matches of the MLS campaign. Nashville also won its first two matches in CONCACAF Champions’ Cup play, routing Atletico Ottawa by a cumulative 7-0 score.
After those lopsided victories and a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution in the MLS season opener, Nashville SC faced more adversity last Saturday in a 0-0 draw at FC Dallas. Nashville had just one shot on target against Dallas, and the visitors had to play with 10 men after Matthew Corcoran received a red card in the 84th minute.
“It’s early in the season, so the expectation for us in our building is that we aren’t the final product,” Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan said. “We don’t want to be the final product and we’re just going to keep getting a little better each day.”
Sam Surridge didn’t play against Dallas due to illness, but is available for Saturday’s lineup. Surridge recorded a brace on Feb. 21 against New England.
Kelvin Yeboah also has two goals over Minnesota’s first two matches. The striker found a 90th-minute equalizer in a 2-2 draw at Austin FC on Feb. 21, and Yeboah’s 66th-minute header was the only score in the Loons’ 1-0 win over FC Cincinnati last Saturday.
James Rodriguez eventually will team with Yeboah on the attack, but the star offseason signing’s MLS debut could be pushed back another week. After leaving the Thursday training session with a contusion, Rodriguez was listed as questionable for Saturday, according to Minnesota United coach Cameron Knowles.
“(We) anticipate him day-to-day, it’s really just out of an abundance of caution,” Knowles said. “We’ll get back and we’ll see how he is on Monday.”
Veteran Minnesota defender Michael Boxall will miss the match due to an adductor injury.
The Saturday match is only the fourth all-time regular-season meeting between Minnesota and Nashville, and the first since a 2-1 win for the Loons on Aug. 14, 2022.
–Field Level Media
