Preview: Loons hope to build progress against DC United

Capping off their no-rest-for-the-weary stretch of play, Minnesota United hosts DC United in a national spotlight match.

The Loons, currently sitting 6th in the Western Conference, are coming off a relatively strong midweek performance having drawn the LA Galaxy 2-2.

DC, 1st in the Eastern Conference, is amid a similar stretch of matches. They beat the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Wednesday.

After managing a solid defensive performance against the Galaxy, Minnesota will be tasked with handling another former Manchester United player: Wayne Rooney.

“Rooney is a smart player in terms of trying to create chances whereas Zlatan likes to stay high. Rooney’s kind of all over the field. He’s a creator and a distributor, he’s a finisher. He’s going to be a challenge for all of us to be aware of his skillset because they’ve got some danger with [Luciano] Acosta and [Paul] Arriola and some of these other guys. We have to keep our minds on what he’s doing in the game,” said defender Ike Opara. “I think Zlatan wants to score goals and he wants to create memorable moments and Rooney, he’s going to do more of the dirty work to get his team into the game and win games. That in itself is a challenge especially with his skillset, especially with the work he puts in each and every game and his intelligence.”

For the first time in awhile, the Loons are without any real selection issues. Defender Francisco Calvo and midfielder Jan Greguš both return from their red-card suspensions.

After the Galaxy match, manager Adrian Heath suggested there could be some changes to the starting lineup with the return of Calvo and Gregus and for the purpose of resting some players.

Start Time: 12:30p CT

Location: Allianz Field

TV: Fox Sports 1

Radio: SKOR North (1500 AM)