The Vancouver Whitecaps finish up their monster road trip with a date with Minnesota United at Allianz Field.

Both teams will be looking to bounce back from midweek defeats, after Minnesota fell 2-1 to Sporting KC and the Caps lost a 4-3 goal fest in Cincinnati that featured some uncharacteristically shaky defending.

The loss for Vancouver, however, was a bit of a blip on the radar. For the Loons, it was the continuation of a winless streak that dates back to May 2. That 3-2 win over Columbus marked a month-long spell of good form that seemed to place Minnesota in decent position to make the playoffs. Now, they’re hanging onto the ninth place position in the west.

Minnesota has struggled to find consistent performers outside of playmaker Joaquin Pereyra. Summer signing Tomas Chancalay has been a decent depth piece, Nectarios Triantis remains one of the better number 8s around, and Anthony Markanich has been a revelation. But outside of Markanich and Kelvin Yeboah, no one else has multiple goals and the team sits near the bottom of the league in goals scored per match.

Defensively, the Loons have been solid. Veteran Michael Boxall is in a race against father time but Jefferson Diaz has been a capable deputy. Drake Callender has been OK but he isn’t Dayne St. Clair in goal.

Minnesota will be looking to get revenge after the Caps pounded them into submission earlier this year. Vancouver will be working through their own issues, however, with the impending departure of Sebastian Berhalter to Middleborough. Replacing Seb will be something Vancouver must grapple with over the rest of the season and there is no time like the present. Oliver Larraz started in place of Seb on Wednesday and it could be him or JC Ngando getting minutes here while the front office figures out a long term solution.

We will likely see Thomas Müller getting the start here after he remained rooted to the bench in Cincinnati. Cheikh Sabaly seems to be fit and will have to rotate in, as the Caps are down virtually all of their wingers with Bruno Caicedo, Emmanuel Sabbi, and Kenji Cabrera are all injured. Edier Ocampo is suspended due to yellow card accumulation, meaning their will need to be some tinkering with the backline as well.

The Cincinnati match was likely an aberration, though the midfield will continue to be a question mark until the Caps bring in a Berhalter replacement or Jesper Sorensen works his magic on Larraz or Ngando. This team still has enough quality to get by Minnesota given their current form and a win is imperative to remain in good standing in the Supporters’ Shield race.