In this edition of Oppo Research, Hudson River Blue spoke with Dan Elias of the Loony Bin Podcast to learn more about Minnesota United, New York City FC's opponent on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.
• League Form: W-D-D-W-W
• Record: 3W, 2D, 1L | 11 points, 4th place
• Scoring Leaders: Tani Oluwaseyi, Kelvin Yeboah, 4 goals
• Assist Leader: Joaquin Pereyra, 2 assists
1. Minnesota has a clear-cut goal to make a run in the playoffs
Hudson River Blue: Minnesota had a solid start to the season and are in the top four in the Western Conference. Many pundits have Minnesota finishing in the top five, but what are the fans' expectations for the club this season?
Dan Elias: Coming into the 2025 season, and as I write this in advance of Matchday 7, Minnesota United fans are feeling quite positive about the direction of this team. Starting 2024 with an interim manager (interim to the interim really after Interim Coach Sean McAuley left the team on January 4, 2024) didn’t inspire confidence, but after starting well under Cameron Knowles, and transitioning to new Head Coach Eric Ramsay after three games, the team had a solid 2024 finishing 10th in the Supporters Shield Standings.
The team has been talking about 2024 being the “floor” for this team and most fans agree this is a Top 10 team in MLS. For Minnesota United in 2025, exceeding the regular season and playoff results (losing in the Western Conference Semifinals) is a clear goal. Fans are also feeling positive about the team’s chances at winning a trophy in 2025 participating in both the Leagues Cup and US Open Cup this summer.
2. Minnesota's two-striker formation is working
HRB: Kelvin Yeboah — who joined Minnesota last summer from Genoa FC — scored nine goals in 12 appearances. Set to have an entire season under his belt, Yeboah has four goals in six games and has excelled alongside Tani Oluwaseyi, who also has four goals. How has the duo worked so well together? And how could they continue to lead Minnesota this season?
DE: Playing with two forwards was a goal of Coach Ramsay’s in 2024 but without a preseason and with each game feeling “like a cup final” to make the playoffs at the end of the season, he never had time to implement the formation. Minnesota United played in a 5-3-2 with both Tani and Kelvin on the field for all of their preseason games and it's clearly a formation that is causing problems for opposing defenses. The two-striker system is working well for the team, but it’s not because they are working particularly well together, at least not yet.
Tani earned a brace at Sporting Kansas City while Yeboah was on the bench and Yeboah had a brace at home against the LA Galaxy while Tani was with the Canadian National Team. Tani did assist on Yeboah’s goal at home against CF Montreal but it was from a long throw-in and not from the run of play. It’s fairly clear that there is still room to grow for the two strikers in playing off each other and creating chances for their fellow No 9.
What is working right now is that when one of them has an off day, the other has stepped up. And this works BECAUSE they aren’t relying on the other striker to create their chances. Both Tani and Yeboah can create their own chances, play as a hold-up No 9 with their back to goal, and stretch the back line if that’s what the game calls for. If they can learn to create chances for each other, their collective form could actually improve.
3. No possession? No problem — for now?
HRB: Minnesota sits at the bottom of MLS in these categories: Average possession and pass accuracy. However, it hasn’t affected Minnesota at all, so how is the team able to win despite not being a ball-dominant side?
DE: It’s not that Coach Ramsay doesn’t care about possession, it's just that he only cares about possession that can create chances. And with a reliable, but not great, midfield and two athletic forwards to go along with two athletic wingbacks (Joseph Rosales and Bongi Hlongwane), Ramsay is prioritizing the creation of open spaces behind the opponent’s backline over field tilt, possession, and passing accuracy. By allowing the opponent to control the ball, typically in the middle third of the field, Minnesota can create turnovers that lead to the creation of high xG value counter-attacking scoring chances for their athletic forwards and wingbacks.
It’s hard to know how sustainable this low possession, high chance creation tactical setup will be, however, as the team has played some of the league's most out-of-form teams in 2025 (CF Montreal, LA Galaxy, and Sporting KC to name a few). As the Loons start to play better teams that can break down a low block at a higher rate, Minnesota will need to find ways of controlling the game with the ball to achieve their goals.
It’s also fair to note that the team’s inability to control the ball directly led to dropped points at Sporting KC and at home against the LA Galaxy as the Loons weren’t able to control the ball well enough to kill off the game. However, all of these stats are impacted by the fact that the Loons have scored first in five of the six games this year.
We do expect the team to develop some wrinkles to this tactical setup that could shift some of these stats from extreme outlier to closer to average.
4. The X-Factor: Scoring the first goal
HRB: What's the X-factor that could decide this game?
DE: Minnesota United naturally plays a very road-friendly style of play but has only played 12 minutes all season from behind. If the Loons score first, this could be another game where the Loons control the game without the ball. If NYCFC scores first, this 2025 Minnesota United team will be in unfamiliar territory. This game feels like a game where the first goal could be definitive.
5. Predicted score, Starting XI
HRB: Prediction time: Starting XI? Final score?
DE: Final score: MNUFC 2 - NYCFC 1
