Loons at San Diego: Keys to the match, storylines and prediction

Minnesota United at San Diego FC What Western Conference semifinal When p m CT Monday Where Snapdragon Stadium Stream MLS Season Pass on Apple TV Radio KSTP-AM Weather degrees overcast mph south wind Betting line MNUFC plus- draw plus- San Diego minus- Format The MLS Cup Playoffs have entered its one-game knockout rounds Unlike the best-of-three first-round series if this match is tied after minutes a -minute extra time period will be played for a tie would go to penalty kicks Look-ahead Monday s winner will play Vancouver in the West final next weekend The second-seed Whitecaps beat Los Angeles FC in penalty kicks on Saturday night Top seed San Diego would host while fourth-seed Minnesota would again go on the road Form MNUFC outlasted Seattle Sounders in a wild Championship on Nov overcoming a two-goal deficit and Joseph Rosales red card to win in rounds of penalty kicks View The MLS schedule change where in the season starts in fall ends in spring will hurt cold-weather clubs such as the Loons but the flip will nullify the current playoff pause during international windows which can suck momentum from the proceedings The Loons were buzzing after the Seattle win but there is a -day gap between matches Newest matchups The Loons split its regular-season set against expansion franchise San Diego losing - in St Paul in June and winning - in San Diego in September Both group lacked key players in June and Minnesota rode its luck in September as San Diego had an - advantage in expected goals Quote I don t think anyone sees the championship playing out distinctly differently to how it s played out in the first two Ramsay disclosed Friday They re a unit that will really dominate the ball I would say as any association in MLS at the moment so we know full well the things that we ve done well defensive organization threat on transition and set plays We have to do that to a really high level if we want to win the competition Stats The amount of possession San Diego held in each of the regular-season matches against Minnesota This was not a shocking number S D led the league with while Minnesota was dead least at Absences Rosales suspended is out The MLS availability record has not yet been issued Key to the encounter Unlike the West semifinal last year against L A Galaxy the Loons need to keep this goal-less early or ideally count their own goal If high-flying San Diego scores early Minnesota will have to chase an open-play goal and that is far from their strength That would invite a blowout Scouting account The head of the San Diego attack is Anders Dreyer The Dane attacker has combined goals and primary assists which is behind only Lionel Messi this season Coming in from Anderlecht in Belgium the year old MLS New comer of the year Prediction Minnesota luck ran out at this stage a year ago and it s hard to see how it will go beyond this point again in San Diego -