There is no time to waste for Minnesota United if they want to have a chance to qualify to the next round of the Leagues Cup. The Loons must beat a team they’ve never faced before. LIGA MX’s Club Necaxa makes their 2024 tournament debut at Allianz Field on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass, looking for a positive result against a team that struggled in their West 6 opener.
The team from the MLS will battle for a victory and a considerable goal differential, after they dropped their first match 2-0 against the Seatlle Sounders. Minnesota lost all 10 games its played in the Emerald City.
In the last edition of the Leagues Cup, Minnesota United had an impressive run after beating Puebla, Columbus Crew, and Toluca on their way to the quarterfinals; but their trophy hopes were shattered by Nashville, losing 5-0 to the eventual tournament runner-up.
On the other hand, Club Necaxa is coming off a 1-1 road draw against Club León in their most recent Mexican league game. The team led by Eduardo Fentanes is currently in 11th place of the LIGA MX table with four points after the same number of games and looks to feed off last semester’s performance after reaching the play-in.
Necaxa lost both group matches they played in the 2023 edition of the tournament, against Charlotte FC and FC Dallas, and did not qualify to the knockout stage, which makes them a dangerous team in this edition as they look for revenge.
Both teams will have key players out, as MNUFC´s Hassani Dotson received a red card against Seattle on Saturday and is suspended for the upcoming game; for Los Rayos, Alexis Peña will not play as he was the only member in the roster that could not practice with the rest of the group.
Nonetheless, expect an aggressive approach by both teams needing the three points.
