St. Louis City interim head coach John Hackworth is confident his side can make a late push for the playoffs after going unbeaten since their return from the Leagues Cup.
St. Louis are building momentum at the right time, but remain six points adrift of this weekend’s opponents, Minnesota United, who sit on the right side of the playoff line.
Hackworth’s side were forced to share the spoils in their last MLS encounter against New England Revolution, but the 54-year-old preached positivity for the business end of the campaign.
“I personally believe that we're not out of time yet, you know, we still have control,” Hackworth said.
“We have to fix this little moment where we take our foot off the gas, where we don't play with the same initiative that we do to start the game. That's something we can fix. We have fixed it.
“We have gotten better. I'm going to say I'm blue in the face, but I believe in this group of guys. I still think we have a good chance.”
Minnesota, meanwhile, overcame the San Jose Earthquakes in their last match, keeping the gap between the teams below them to just a point with the luxury of a game in hand over most.
The Loons currently sit ninth in the Western Conference table and know a win is a must to keep their ambitions of remaining in that position alive.
Head coach Eric Ramsay acknowledged the enormity of the task awaiting his players but challenged his squad to deal with the raucous atmosphere inside CITYPARK.
“They have had a slight change in fortune over the last couple of games. They are fighting for their lives at the bottom in the same way that we are,” Ramsay said.
“They are a team I am sure that are looking at this game as being crucial for the remainder of their season and their fortunes.
“We have got to make sure we handle that situation well and that we understand the magnitude of the game for us and for them, because that will certainly play its part.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Marcel Hartel
Hartel has been involved in a goal in each of his first three MLS matches (one goal and three assists).
Since the start of 2023, four players have begun their MLS careers with goal contributions in their first three regular season matches, with three of them doing so for St. Louis (Hartel, Joao Klauss and Eduard Lowen).
Minnesota United – Robin Lod
Despite only playing the final half an hour in Finland’s Nations League defeat to England, Lod returns to the MLS with a record in his sights.
Lod has been involved in 54 regular season goals for Minnesota (28 goals and 26 assists), one away from equalling the club record of 55 held by Emanuel Reynoso (22 goals and 33 assists).
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have not lost any of their last six matches against MLS teams in all competitions (W3 D3). This is their longest unbeaten run in the division during the club’s history.
But Minnesota have won two of their last three regular season matches (L1) after winning just two of their previous 14 (D4 L8). Minnesota’s triumph against San Jose last time out also ended a seven-match winless run away from home (D2 L5).
And it has often been the away side who have emerged victorious in this fixture. Both their MLS meetings last term ended with an away win, with Minnesota out to upset Opta’s data-led simulations at CITYPARK this time around.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 46.4%
Draw – 26.5%
Minnesota United – 27%
PSG sporting director hails 'electric' Luis Enrique
Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Luis Campos believes the club have an "electric coach" in Luis Enrique and has praised his "special touch".
Luis Enrique succeeded Christophe Galtier in July 2023, signing a two-year contract with PSG.
In his first season in charge, he won a domestic treble, winning the Ligue 1 title by nine points, and also led the team to the Champions League semi-finals, where they were beaten by Borussia Dortmund.
In 53 games in 2023-24, Luis Enrique oversaw 34 wins (64.15% win percentage), with his team scoring 124 goals across all competitions and conceding 52.
And Campos has been pleased with the results he has seen from the Spaniard so far.
Speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, Campos said: "Above all, I must tell you that it is a great pleasure to work with Luis Enrique every day.
"He is someone fantastic. His involvement, his energy, his electricity. That's why he is very modern.
"We are in a moment when everyone is looking for electricity for cars. We have an electric coach, who is very modern, who forces us to give our best every day and who makes the team work as a team.
"It's a pleasure to work with Luis Enrique. He is a huge coach. Special and very good."
PSG lost their biggest star at the end of last season, with Kylian Mbappe choosing to leave the club on a free transfer, ending a seasons-long saga by joining Real Madrid.
The French club brought new faces in during the off-season, with the likes of Matvey Safonov, Willian Pacho, Desire Doue, and Joao Neves coming into the squad.
Campos believes PSG were able to stick to their transfer strategy, with Neves a perfect example of getting a player they hope can seamlessly slot into Luis Enrique's style.
"What we seek is competent players, players capable of playing the game that Luis Enrique wants, and players capable of responding to what our president also demands, in terms of dignifying the name of the club, dignifying the city, and dignifying the country," he said.
"Joao Neves met the profile of the coach. The coach needed a player with this profile. We discussed it. I never hired a player that the coach didn't want.
"Joao had that profile. And we did everything to have him with us.
"I think he's responding. He's still in the adaptation phase. He'll have normal highs and lows like someone who arrives for the first year to a club as big as PSG, although he comes from a very big club with many requirements. In Paris, it's different.
"We're very happy with the arrival of Joao, as we're very happy with the arrival of Doue, with the arrival of Safonov, with the recruitment we did. We're very happy."
Despite Safonov's arrival, Gianluigi Donnarumma is still set to be PSG's number one and is now playing in his fourth season in Paris.
He has made 117 appearances in all competitions since joining from Milan, keeping 40 clean sheets in that time.
In the past, Donnarumma has come under scrutiny for making mistakes, despite making just one error that led to a goal in Ligue 1 last season, and Campos thinks he has been treated too harshly.
"No. I think there is more external noise around Donnarumma than internal noise," he added.
"Internally, we are very happy with him, and we will try to renew his contract."
Juventus putting Champions League return to one side ahead of Empoli trip
Juventus make their return to the Champions League next week, but head coach Thiago Motta says the Bianconeri's full focus is on this weekend's trip to Empoli.
Motta has made a strong start at Juve since joining from Bologna, with an unbeaten start to the Serie A campaign putting them level with Scudetto holders Inter at the summit.
Next week, the Bianconeri face PSV in their first Champions League game since 2022 before welcoming Napoli to Turin for a huge clash on September 21, but Motta will not look beyond Saturday's visit to the Stadio Carlo Castellani.
"The other two games of the week we have time to think and prepare for. The focus is tomorrow. Then we will think about the other games," Motta said on Friday.
"We only have to think about the game against Empoli.
"Tomorrow will be a complicated match like all the games you face in Serie A, against a team that is doing well that knows what they want to do on the pitch."
Empoli are also unbeaten after three league games, sitting just two points behind Juventus in seventh place, and Motta won't be taking the Tuscan side lightly.
"We face an Empoli team that is doing well right now, they have played three really good games, but we are also in good shape," Motta said.
"We knew the calendar and the games to be faced. Tomorrow we have to be determined and focused and play a serious game.
"Then from game to game we will face everything as always, with maximum commitment and focused on doing our job well."
Motta began the season with a limited squad, still waiting on the club to bring in players, but the new coach now has plenty of options at his disposal, and Douglas Luiz and Teun Koopmeiners could both make their first starts next time out.
"They are two great players that I am lucky enough to have on our side, like many others in our squad. Let's see tomorrow who will start the game," Motta said.
"I'm happy because we have everyone available."
Colorado Rapids v Portland Timbers: Neville's men 'in it to win it'
Phil Neville says the Portland Timbers are "in it to win it" against the Colorado Rapids, though he expects a tough test versus a Coach of the Year candidate in Chris Armas.
Portland sit eighth in the Western Conference standings, occupying a wild-card spot but sitting one point adrift of the Houston Dynamo in the final automatic playoff place.
They have taken four points from two games since the Leagues Cup break, drawing 4-4 with St. Louis City then beating their local rivals, the Seattle Sounders, 1-0 last time out.
Neville knows a visit to Colorado, who are four points and four places above them in the standings, will prove a tough assignment, but he has confidence in his side.
"We're coming up against a coach who is probably one of the Coach of the Year candidates in Chris Armas, he's done an incredible job," Neville said.
"The boys have trained well after having some rest, they've trained hard. Players have come back from international duty fit and well.
"We're looking forward towards one of the most pivotal periods in all of MLS. I think we're coming to probably the last 100 metres of the race, and as they say, we're in it to win it."
Colorado beat FC Dallas 3-2 on their return to league action last time out, having finished third in the Leagues Cup in August.
Head coach Armas said: "It's really good to be back after a few days off. The energy in the team is good, we're picking up where we left off after a really busy and successful August.
"We really have our sights set on this weekend, and then on what's ahead – and that's the playoffs.
"For sure we're looking forward to another home game and we're going to take it one step at a time."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Colorado Rapids – Darren Yapi
Yapi scored Colorado's winner against Dallas last time out on August 31, and both of his career MLS goals have now come in the 90th minute or later.
He is one of three MLS players with multiple goals in 2024 with all of them coming in the 90th minute or later, alongside Miguel Berry and Julian Fernandez.
Portland Timbers – Evander
Evander has a goal contribution in eight straight MLS matches, the second-longest streak in the Timbers' history, behind Diego Valeri's nine straight in his MVP-winning 2017 season.
Evander's 27 goal contributions (12 goals, 15 assists) overall in 2024 are the second most in an MLS season for Portland (Valeri – 32 in 2017).
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
Portland's win over Seattle featured their sixth clean sheet in their last 15 games in all competitions. Through their first 15 matches of 2024, Portland did not record a single shutout.
Colorado, meanwhile, have won their last two MLS games by a 3-2 scoreline, versus Real Salt Lake and Dallas. Only once previously have the Rapids netted at least three goals in three straight MLS matches, doing so in April 1998.
Portland have won three straight matches against Colorado in all competitions for the second time (also doing so in 2017-18). Neither team has recorded a four-match winning streak over the other in the 32-match history of the series, so a draw could be on the cards.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Colorado Rapids – 40.2%
Portland Timbers – 33.2%
Draw – 26.6%
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