Minnesota United v Houston Dynamo: Olsen prepared to make 'bold' changes

Ben Olsen fumed that he was prepared to make "bold" changes to his Houston Dynamo team after falling to a 3-1 defeat to CF Montreal in their last MLS fixture. 

Montreal, who are bottom of the Eastern Conference, picked up their first league win in five matches as Prince Owusu's brace sealed the victory at the Shell Energy Stadium. 

That result saw the Dynamo lose back-to-back MLS matches for the third time this season, leaving them 11th in the Western Conference after 18 games of their season. 

Olsen was in a fiery mood after their defeat, and hinted that he could ring the changes for their trip to Allianz Field to take on Minnesota United this week. 

"Just not good enough," Olsen said. "It was poor. Our energy wasn't right. Again, some of the structure in transition wasn't good enough and that's on me because I guess we weren't clear enough in those moments. 

"The subs came in and did well. We have competition right now and that is the silver lining. We have a bunch of players that want to be on the field.

"And now it is my job to figure out who are the best ones and be bold enough to make some of those changes no matter whose been here. I don't really care at this point. 

"I don't care how long you have been here of what you have done. We have to maybe mix things up and get some guys out there who want to have the right mentality and energy, but we'll see."

Minnesota are another team looking to return to winning ways after seeing their four-game unbeaten stretch ended by fellow title challengers San Diego FC. 

The result brought up the Loons' fourth loss of the campaign, but Eric Ramsay's team remain within two points of leaders Vancouver Whitecaps, though they do have a game in hand over Minnesota. 

And it was at this stage of the campaign last season that Minnesota began to crumble. In June 2024, they managed just one victory from their six fixtures (D1 L4), though they were still able to finish sixth. 

Ramsay was asked about the possibility of a similar outcome occurring this month, but the Minnesota boss insisted that their defeat to San Diego would not see his squad "cave in" after a strong start.  

"We're able to lose games. It hasn't happened too often this year," Ramsay said. "The world certainly won't be caving in because we've lost a game and lost a game to a very good team who are at the top of the table for a reason. 

"I am certainly not going to 360 in the way that I view this season or the way in which I view the group. I think we're in a really good place. I will look at it in a very balanced way and take forward what we did well. 

"But I will certainly take the seeds of what is an evolving picture of certain phases of our game. I think we have seen ourselves do some things against San Diego that we haven't done well enough over the course of the first 17 games. 

"We went into our five days off really disappointed, and we will, as good professionals, pick apart the details. Ultimately, we have had a good first half of the year and I know that there is a really good base for us to build on."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Minnesota United – Kelvin Yeboah

Yeboah has found a new home with Minnesota since arriving from Genoa last July, and has been in imperious scoring form when playing in front of the Loons supporters. 

Indeed, he scored his fifth home goal of the season on June 14. Four of his five goals have come at Allianz Field in 2025, with nine of his 12 career regular-season goals coming in home matches.

Houston Dynamo – Ondrej Lingr

Lingr registered his third goal of the season on June 14 and is the only Dynamo player with at least three goals and two assists this season.

The Czech (one goal, two assists) and Griffin Dorsey (two goals, two assists) have also been involved in a goal in four of Houston's last five matches. 

MATCH PREDICTION: MINNESOTA UNITED WIN

Minnesota have won seven of their last 10 regular-season meetings against Houston but have not won any of the last three (D1 L2). The Dynamo are unbeaten in their last three matches against the Loons, including their first road win against Minnesota in 2024.

Since the beginning of May, Minnesota have tallied the fifth-most goals (16) in the MLS, with 10 of those goals coming in four home matches. Eight different players have scored a goal at home (excluding own goals) – the most different goalscorers by any team in that span.

But they will need to be wary of the Dynamo's aerial threat. Houston scored their MLS-leading eighth headed goal against Montreal on June 14. The Dynamo are the only team in MLS with multiple players (Ezequiel Ponce and Lingr) to score multiple headed goals.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Minnesota United – 44.1%

Draw – 26.8%

Houston Dynamo – 29.1%