Seattle will make the trip to the Twin Cities to take on the Loons Saturday night.  The fourth place Sounders sit just three points behind Minnesota and still have a game in hand as well.  This one will be big in the jostle for playoff position in the West.  MNUFC has been reportedly batting away offers for Canadian striker Tani Oluwaseyi over the last week, so keep an eye on the dynamic that could play out going forward.  Minnesota will look to stop the bleeding from last week’s shocking loss to Colorado against a red hot Seattle who are undefeated in their last 10 in all competitions.

We spoke about it in the newsletter and here it is: The Evander Bowl.  Evander didn’t shy away from bashing the Portland Timbers brass after their abrupt exit from last season’s playoffs.  The offseason drama concluded when Evander was eventually sold to FC Cincinnati for an MLS intra league transfer record of $12 million.  Ever since then, everything he’s touched has turned to gold and his FCC team are strongly in the running for the Supporter’s Shield.  It’ll be interesting to see how the crowd reacts in his return, as he was always grateful towards the fans, but it’s clear there’s bad blood between him and the organization.  I’d look for the MVP candidate to get on the scoresheet this weekend.

As for Portland, it’s a revenge game for striker Kevin Kelsy as well. The Venezuelan was on loan in Cincinnati from Shakhtar Donetsk last season and was bought by Portland for a reported $6 million. The Timbers have only lost twice at Providence Park this season, but surely were hoping some of the five draws in 13 games they’ve had at home would have been turned into three points. In a tight Western Conference race, this one will be important on multiple fronts.

Nashville head up to the Big Apple to take on NYCFC in a Sunday matinee.  There are table implications here, but I’ll be more interested to see the stylistic approach from Nashville.  We've spoken before about how BJ Callaghan has transformed Nashville from a completely direct side to a team that’s comfortable playing in and out of tight spaces to build attacks.  One thing is for certain, games at Yankee Stadium aren’t typically fit for that type of play.  It’s the smallest field in MLS by quite a margin, and it’s not the best surface in the league either.  Games there are just different.  I’ll be interested to see how much Nashville will stick to their new identity or if they’ll revert to a more direct style of play. 

It’s a big one for New York, as things are getting quite tight down around the playoff line in the Eastern Conference. They’re holding on to the eighth spot in the East, but with two games in hand and three points behind seventh place Charlotte FC, NYCFC could be looking up the table instead of behind them with a home victory.

That’s all for the weekend preview this week. Let us know in the comments or on X what you think of the content and enjoy all the action this weekend.