Two teams currently occupying playoff positions in the Major League Soccer Western Conference will meet on Saturday when Dallas travels to face Minnesota United.
The visitors have failed to win in their previous two outings, while the hosts will also be looking to bounce back from a defeat in their most recent match.
Match preview
Minnesota United have had an impressive campaign thus far, finding themselves third in the Western Conference, which is a position that they will want to be in around this time of the season.
So far the club have won 13 of their 28 games, and while they have conceded more goals than all of the teams in the top five positions, they are in touching distance of the place above still.
Just seven points separates Minnesota and Austin, and they will be confident heading into this weekend due to the fact they have lost just three times at home in this campaign.
Their away form has not been as impressive, with seven defeats, and one of those took place in their most recent outing against Real Salt Lake.
Adrian Heath's men were beaten 3-0 in that game, which is a result they will now be pushing to forget at the first available opportunity.
The visitors head into Saturday with the aim of getting back to winning ways as well though, and they will be sure to not make things easy for Minnesota.
Dallas have gone two games in a row without a victory now, with that run initially starting with a difficult 4-0 defeat against Nashville SC.
That was then followed up with their most recent game, which finished 1-1 against Real Salt Lake, despite the fact that Alan Velasco gave them the lead in the seventh minute.
Despite those results, a victory on Saturday would allow Dallas to overtake their opponents in the league table, providing them with enough motivation.
However, the squad will need a better performance than when they met Minnesota earlier on this season as Dallas were beaten 2-1 in that encounter.
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- D
Team News
Bakaye Dibassy was injured in Minnesota's game against Houston Dynamo, and he missed out on the following game because of that, which could be the case again this weekend.
Luis Amarilla was only used as a substitute in that match, but after the hosts failed to find the back of the net, he could end up being brought into the starting XI.
After missing three games with a pelvic injury Brandon Servania made his return to the Dallas squad in their most recent outing from the bench, and he could be in contention from the start this time around.
Jefferson Savarino is likely to take one of the two positions upfront for the visitors as Dallas look to provide more firepower than their recent performances have shown.
Minnesota United possible starting lineup:
Clair; Benitez, Boxall, Kallman, Taylor; Gonzalez, Trapp, Rosales; Amarilla, Danladi, Hlongwane
Dallas possible starting lineup:
Paes; Twumasi, Martinez, Hedges, Farfan; Lletget, Cerrillo, Pomykal; Arriola, Velasco, Ferreira
We say: Minnesota United 2-1 Dallas
Minnesota United will want to get straight back to winning way this weekend, and considering the fact Dallas are out of form right now, they will see this as the ideal game to do so.
The home form of Heath's team is one of the most impressive in the division, and that should be enough to help them secure three points this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
body check tags ::
Previews by email