Match Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps v. Minnesota United FC

What a wild week it’s been in Vancouver as the ‘Caps finally get a result to progress in the Canadian Championship, while the Alphonso Davies transfer news splashes around the headlines across the globe. Heading into the weekend, the homestand continues as Minnesota United FC comes to town, as one of the hottest teams in the league.

The Loons come into BC Place having won 4 out of 5 matches in July, a run that’s seen them vault their way up the standings to 7th place in the Western Conference. On the flip side, your Vancouver Whitecaps have won only 2 out of 6 matches in July, and plenty has been made of that dismal run.

Much of the success the Loons have had can be attributed to their scinitllating attack, spearheaded by the outstanding duo Darwin Quintero and Christian Ramirez.

The former has been garnering so many headlines himself, as he continually scores and creates highlight reel goals with some of the most impressive technical skills in MLS. One of the big questions going into this match will be, how are the ‘Caps going to keep the 30-year old Colombian in check?

Those are some silky skills to embarrass four defenders and turn a half chance into a really incredible goal.

On the positive side, the ‘Caps did just pick up a 2-0 win against the Montreal Impact on Wednesday evening, and with the Alphonso Davies transfer saga wrapped up, it looks like we’ll get some attacking verve from the teenaged phenom for the first time since July 14 against DC United.

Speaking about Davies being back with the squad and his potential involvement on Thursday, Carl Robinson stated that “It’s nice to have him back. He’s running around the field, he wants to play, he’s trying to pick himself already and if he’s full of energy, then I’m sure he’ll be involved.”

As for the win, it looked like there was actually desire to win in Robinson’s men. Yordy Reyna put in a real shift, and looked excellent throughout the match in the Voyageurs. Russell Teibert and Aly Ghazal also put in a fantastic display in the heart of the midfield and with the blessed suspension to Efrain Juarez, those two will hopefully get another deserved run out.

Maybe, this team needed to hit rock bottom, which they seemingly did in Seattle, to finally begin to climb out of this funk. After all, once you are at rock bottom, the only way to go is up.

Team News

Vancouver Whitecaps

Injuries: None

Suspensions: Efrain Juarez

Minnesota United FC

Injuries: OUT: M - Sam Cronin (cervicogenic dysfunction), M - Kevin Molino (torn left ACL), M - Ethan Finlay (torn ACL), D - Jerome Thiesson (right leg injury); QUESTIONABLE: F - Abu Danladi (left leg injury)

Suspensions: None

Officials:

Referee: Dave Gantar

Assistant Referees: Jeff Hosking, Jason White

4th Official: Daniel Radford

VAR: Alex Chilowicz