Even with a Western Conference playoff spot already secured, Minnesota United still have plenty to play for when they host St. Louis City on Saturday night in a Decision Day matchup in Saint Paul, Minn.
The Loons (14-12-7, 49 points) enter the contest in seventh place and a victory would help them avoid falling into a wild-card playoff match. Eighth-place Vancouver is two points behind and faces Real Salt Lake.
Minnesota, which is 5-1-1 over its last seven matches, could vault as high as fifth in the Western Conference with a win. St. Louis (8-12-13, 37 points), which enters Saturday in 12th place and is already eliminated from the playoffs, could finish as high as 10th with a win.
St. Louis is just 1-7-8 on the road this season, tied with FC Dallas (1-10-6) for the fewest away wins in MLS.
Minnesota coach Eric Ramsay said it’s difficult to predict how motivated St. Louis will be for Saturday’s match.
“I can’t say with certainty whether they’re going to be a group that’s going to come here so relaxed and free as a consequence of them playing for nothing that they produce one of (their) better performances of the year, or you get a group of players that’s coming here and has sort of accepted that they’re playing for very little and is waiting for the season to fizzle out,” Ramsay said.
“… We have always been a group that focuses mostly on us, and I know full well if we’re a good version of ourselves, then we’re more than a match for anyone that comes here.”
St. Louis is 3-1-0 since a 3-1 home loss to the Loons on Sept. 14 and comes in off a 3-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Oct. 5.
Roman Burki picked up his 15th career MLS shutout in the win. Simon Becher had a brace and defender Jake Nerwinski became the team’s 20th different goal-scorer, an MLS single-season record.
“Continued good form and a good performance,” St. Louis coach John Hackworth said when asked what he’s looking for in his team’s finale.
“We have been in good form. One of the only teams that have been better than us in the whole league is Minnesota.”
–Field Level Media
