Minnesota Loons-Sporting Kansas City gameday preview

Regional rivals clash again

Preview: United (4-7-0) battles once again with regional rival Kansas City (7-2-2), the first of three regular-season meetings this year. The teams went 1-1-1 in 2017, with United winning the match at TCF Bank Stadium. But Kansas City has one of the best road records in the league this year at 3-1-1, with more road victories (three) and goals (10) than it had in all of 2017.

Quotable: "It's never easy, Kansas. Got a great result against them last year [at this time], which actually gave us a bit of a kick-start last year. So we're hoping for a similar scenario. They're on top of the West, for no reason other than they're a really good team. I think I've said it every time we play Kansas: I've got great respect for the coach, what they do. Great example to what we could become." – United coach Adrian Heath.

Numbers: United G Bobby Shuttleworth made 17 saves against Kansas City last season, which was the most any goalkeeper had against one team in 2017. But one Kansas City defender who is not known for scoring has great luck against United, as Ike Opara scored against the Loons twice last year, once in the regular season and once in the U.S. Open Cup.

Injuries: For United, D Marc Burch (knee) and M Sam Cronin (concussion) are out while D Tyrone Mears (calf), F Abu Danladi (ankle), G Matt Lampson (undisclosed) and M Ibson (thigh) are questionable. For Kansas City, M Felipe Guttierez (hernia) is out.