St. Louis City look to gain ground vs. Minnesota United
Eight points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot with six games remaining and up to 18 points still available, St. Louis City host the ninth-place team they're trying to catch, Minnesota United, on Saturday night.
It's the first of two meetings between the sides this season. They also meet on Decision Day (Oct. 19) in Saint Paul, Minn.
St. Louis (5-10-13, 28 points) enters the contest on a four-match unbeaten run (1-0-3) including a 2-2 draw at the New England Revolution last Saturday.
The 10th-place club finds itself in a must-win scenario against the Loons (10-11-6, 36 points), who hold a two-point edge over both FC Dallas (9-12-7, 34 points) and Austin FC (9-11-7, 34 points) for the final playoff berth.
"I personally believe that we're not out of time yet, you know, we still have control," interim St. Louis head coach John Hackworth said.
But Hackworth acknowledges that his team will have to pull out all the stops to pick up three points and not settle for their fourth draw in five matches on Saturday.
"We know that we have to go for the win," Hackworth said. "That's going to open us up. We're going to have to take some risk if that's the case late in the game because there's no point for us to play safe for a draw."
Minnesota United come in off a 2-1 road win at the last-place San Jose Earthquakes on Aug. 31, with Bongokuhle Hlongwane scoring both goals. The win snapped a seven-match road winless streak (0-5-2) for the Loons, who played shorthanded during most of that drought due to international call-ups and injuries.
The Loons won their only previous trip to St. Louis, 1-0, last April but lost the rematch in Saint Paul, 2-1, last September. St. Louis is 5-4-5 at home this season.
"They are a team that I'm sure that are looking at this game being crucial for the remainder of their season and their fortunes," Minnesota coach Eric Ramsay said of St. Louis City.
"We have got to make sure we handle that situation well and understand the magnitude of the game for us and for them, because that will certainly play its part."
