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• LA Galaxy v Minnesota United: Ramsay hoping to put losing run in rearview

  Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay believes they will bounce back from their recent disappointing run against LA Galaxy on Sunday.

  The Loons have not won any of their last six matches in MLS, losing each of the last five on the bounce, and dropped to eighth in the Western Conference.

  Minnesota have been without players due to injury and international duty, but with some of those starting to return, Ramsay is hopeful it will be the spark they need to snap their losing streak.

  "In the grand scheme of this difficult run that we're on and the circumstances that surround it, there were elements of the last performance where we looked back at our best," Ramsay said.

  "I think it's as simple as welcoming players back from injuries and internationals to get us back to the feeling before all of this took place.

  "That's a very realistic take on the situation, though we will look back at this period with some real regret and disappointment that we haven't picked up the points we could and should've done."

  Meanwhile, the Galaxy's four-game winning streak was ended by Los Angeles FC in Thursday’s El Trafico derby.

  Now three points off top spot, having slipped to third, head coach Greg Vanney was left to bemoan LA's failure to create chances at the Rose Bowl.

  "I'm not interested in being a possession team for the sake of passing the ball around," Vanney said.

  "We need to use possession to put the opposition on their heels to score goals, to bury them and make them feel like we're relentlessly coming at them, not so they can set up and be comfortable and turn us over and go the other way."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  LA Galaxy – Gabriel Pec

  Gabriel Pec scored against Los Angeles FC and has now been involved in a goal in five straight appearances, tied for the second-longest active streak in MLS.

  The Brazilian is the second Galaxy player this season to record a streak of five games with a goal contribution, after Dejan Joveljic in February-March.

  Minnesota United – Bongokuhle Hlongwane

  Bongokuhle Hlongwane has recorded a goal and an assist in two consecutive away matches, one of two players (Lionel Messi) to do so in consecutive road games this season.

  Only two players in MLS history have a goal and an assist in three straight road games – Junior Agogo in 2000 and Ante Razov in 1999.

  MATCH PREDICTION: LA GALAXY WIN

  The Galaxy won six of their first eight matches against Minnesota United (drawing two) from the Loons' MLS entry in 2017 through August 2021. Since then, LA have won just one of seven meetings with Minnesota (drawn three, lost three).

  The Galaxy's 2-1 defeat to LAFC on Thursday was their fourth loss of the season, and the second against their derby rivals. They have not lost two straight matches since last October, with the second of those defeats coming against Minnesota.

  However, Minnesota have lost five straight regular-season matches for the first time in club history.  The Loons had suffered only three defeats in 16 league matches this season prior to this run (won eight, drew five).

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  LA Galaxy – 49.9%

  Draw – 25.3%

  Minnesota United – 24.8%

• Copa America exit 'part of the process' for Batista's Venezuela

  Venezuela head coach Fernando Batista has branded their Copa America quarter-final exit as "part of the process" after losing on penalties to Canada.

  La Vinotinto enjoyed a perfect group stage, winning all three of their games to top Group B while conceding just one goal.

  They fought back to force the shootout on Friday, with Salomon Rondon scoring a stunning long-range effort to cancel out Jacob Shaffelburg's early opener.

  However, Wilker Angel missed his spot-kick when it went to sudden death, and Canada, making their tournament debut, went into the semi-finals.

  Batista has remained positive though, saying his team will use this tournament as a springboard to try and qualify for the World Cup for the first time in their history.

  "This is a long process," Batista said.

  "We have a huge dream that we're going for. All Venezuelans want to qualify for the World Cup.

  "And the Copa America gave us a possibility of strengthening our squad."

• Sporting Kansas City v FC Dallas: Luccin demands more than just resilience

  Peter Luccin was thrilled with FC Dallas' comeback against the Portland Timbers, but still sees plenty of ways they can improve.

  Dallas came out on top from a topsy-turvy match in midweek, winning 3-2.

  It saw Dallas bounce back from successive defeats, and they sit 11th in the Western Conference ahead of Sunday's clash with Sporting Kansas City, who are six points behind in 13th.

  Asked what he liked about his team's performance against the Timbers, Dallas interim boss Luccin said: "Resilience, resilience from the team. That was huge.

  "After the first half, we were very passive with nothing offensively. The only thing about the first half that I liked was the compactness of the team. We were compact, but no one making runs, no one even putting more pressure on the ball or playing with the ball. 

  "The half-time talk, maybe it's better for me to not say anything. It was a hard talk, but at the same time, we told them to believe.

  "We felt that we could score in the second half. The second half we showed character.

  "We are in a very hard situation right now in the club and with the team, with so many injuries to very important players."

  Petar Musa got on the scoresheet for Dallas to move into double-figures for the season.

  "I am happy with my goals but for me, it's not about just the goals," said the striker. 

  "We want to win every single game and I want to help the team. I'm more focused on winning every game. So if I score I'm happy, but it's more important that we won."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Sporting Kansas City - Daniel Salloi

  Salloi has scored eight goals in 15 career regular-season matches against Dallas, three more than he has scored against any other opponent. Salloi has six goals in his last six matches against Dallas.

  FC Dallas - Petar Musa

  Musa has scored five goals in his last three matches, taking his total to 10 in his first 20 MLS games for Dallas. The last player to reach 10 goals faster for Dallas was Carlos Ruiz in 2005 (16 games).

  MATCH PREDICTION: SKC WIN

  Dallas are winless on the road in the 2024 regular season (D3 L7) with its three road points being the fewest in MLS this season. It is the second time the club has been winless through at least 10 away matches of a season as they failed to win any of their first 11 on the road in 2000.

  SKC beat Austin FC 2-0 in their last home game. The win ended a streak of 14 straight home regular-season games of SKC conceding, the second-longest such streak in team history (22 straight from June 2002 to October 2003).

  The home side has won each of the last four meetings between Kansas City and Dallas in all competitions. There have been at least three goals scored in each of the last six meetings with both teams scoring in all six.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  SKC - 41.3%

  Dallas - 32%

  Draw - 26.7%