Minnesota United welcome Seattle Sounders to Allianz Field this weekend for Sunday’s sole Major League Soccer match.
The Sounders find themselves three points clear at the top of the Western Conference and remain unbeaten this season.
Meanwhile, Minnesota sit seventh – 14 points behind Seattle with a game in hand over the conference leaders.
Minnesota made a terrible start to the 2021 campaign, suffering four straight defeats at the beginning of the year.
But since then, they have only lost one of their previous eight games – picking up four wins and three draws along the way.
Having conceded 16 goals in 12 matches, the Loons boast one of the best defensive records in the division.
However, they have managed to score just 12 goals this season – meaning only one team in the West has a poorer offensive record.
Minnesota have an impressive home record, though, having lost just two of their previous 15 MLS encounters at Allianz Field.
As for the Sounders, they have picked up eight wins and five draws and remain the only Major League Soccer side without a defeat to their name this season.
With 23 goals to their name, Seattle are the second-highest scorers in the West – one goal shy of Sporting Kansas City.
On top of that, they also boast the best defensive record by some distance. Having conceded just eight goals in 13 games, Seattle have a +15 goal difference.
Thanks to their steely backline, Brian Schmetzer’s side have also kept six clean sheets this term – giving them a shutout rate of 46%.
Head-to-head: If you cast your mind back to the opening weekend of the season, you may remember that Seattle crushed Minnesota 4-0 in April.
In fact, the Loons have failed to beat the Sounders in each of their previous eight meetings (one draw, seven losses).
Team news: Minnesota will be without long-term absentee Ike Opara on Sunday, as the centre-back continues to recover from injury.
Seattle currently have four players sidelined through injury – Jordan Morris, Jordy Delem, Stefan Frei and Nicolas Lodeiro.
Although Minnesota have clearly upped their game in recent weeks, there is no denying that Seattle are the stronger of the two sides.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Seattle will maintain their unbeaten record in 2021 and net over 1.5 goals en route to beating the Loons.