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The cold facts: Minnesota hosts Atlanta (Mar 30, 2018)
Minnesota United will host fellow 2017 expansion team Atlanta United on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in a match to be played in cold conditions with the possibility of snow.
The high temperature Saturday is forecasted at 31 degrees, and the projected forecast is 14 degrees with a 30 percent chance of snow.
By the time the game starts, it could again break the temperature record of 19 degrees set at the start of last year's game March 12 when Minnesota and Atlanta met at TCF Bank Stadium. Atlanta United won that game 6-1 and earned the first victory in franchise history on the way to an eventual postseason spot.
After a crushing season-opening loss at Houston, Atlanta has turned things around with back-to-back wins at home, dominating D.C. United and Vancouver and outscoring its two opponents 7-2. Its 4-1 win against the Whitecaps on March 17 featured three goals by Josef Martinez.
Atlanta United spent their open week training sessions focusing on improving fitness and competitiveness. Coach Gerardo Martino put the team through several small-side games, as well as some drills designed to improve individual and collective defending.
"The more repetitions we get with that the better we get," Atlanta United defender and captain Michael Parkhurst said. "We feel confident going into the weekend that we have individual matchups we can win."
While the conditions could present a difficult challenge, Atlanta United understands it will not be playing against the weather. Minnesota United is a formidable foe and is showing improvement in 2018 despite some early season injuries and international team call-ups.
"We want to go up there and put on a good performance," Atlanta midfielder Chris McCann said. "It'd be nice to score six again, but I doubt it will be that easy this time.
"We're expecting a tough game, I'm sure they'll give it to us. But we've got two wins in a row now, we're confident and hopefully we can go up there and take the three points."
Minnesota United heads home after a 3-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls on March 24 that the Loons were forced to play without captain Francisco Calvo as well as Michael Boxall, Tyrone Mears and Jerome Thiesson.
The defeat halted some momentum Minnesota built with consecutive wins over Orlando and Chicago. While the lineup should return to full strength for Saturday's game with national team duty and injury returns, Loons coach Adrian Heath will be expecting a lot more effort from his team.
"I can't go into the game Saturday not knowing what I'm going to get," Heath said. "I'm not going to be prepared to watch people playing not to their maximum and I think that was the case (against the Red Bulls)."
The Loons have been hampered offensively by the loss of star midfielder Kevin Molino to a season-ending knee injury three weeks ago against Orlando.
To replace Molino, Minnesota United is prepared to sign its first high-profile player, Mexican team Club America striker Darwin Quintero. But even if all goes as is now expected, Quintero will not be available for duty with the Loons for at least a week.
Minnesota United and Atlanta United have split their all-time two-game series, with one win apiece on each other's home pitch.
