When Minnesota United lined up for Saturday night’s 3-0 win against Sporting Kansas City, the Loons once again did so without their usual back five. Instead, manager Eric Ramsay chose a formation so classic that a venerable English soccer magazine was named for it: the 4-4-2.

The wrinkle was that, while the traditional formation includes two strikers, the Loons lined up attacking midfielders Joaquín Pereyra and Robin Lod as their front men — meaning, effectively, that they were playing with zero strikers.

Read more: Minnesota United adjusts lineup due to injuries, transfers

GAME STORY: Minnesota United shuts out Sporting Kansas City in regular-season home finale

EARLIER: MN United face Sporting Kansas City in final home game of regular season Saturday

For all of 2025, there’s been one sure-fire cure for whatever ails Minnesota United: a couple of hours on an airplane.

The Loons have lost just twice away from home all season, and they extended their road unbeaten streak to nine MLS games with a 1-1 draw at Colorado on Saturday night.

Read more: Minnesota Loons rally to tie Colorado Rapids 1-1

Following Minnesota United’s win at San Diego two weeks ago, the Loons were riding high. They were about to play a U.S. Open Cup semifinal, and they were within striking distance of the lead in the race for the Supporters’ Shield.

In the span of four days and two losses, though, their chances at both of those trophies disappeared.

“We thought we had a good chance at winning, or competing, for three trophies, and now we are only [alive] for the last one,” Loons midfielder Robin Lod said.

Read more: Minnesota United tries to get back on track vs. Colorado

Minnesota United’s training sessions are exactly what you would expect for the most part. The team works on tactics and on fitness, practices set pieces and works to build precision on the ball — serious work, in other words.

All except when they warm up on the day before a game. That’s when things get a bit, well, silly.

Read more: Friday is game day at Minnesota United practice

Minnesota United has been proud all season about how rare it is for them to be behind on the scoreboard.

Of course, that was with their first string in the game. With a team full of backups and new players, maybe all bets are off.

Read more: Beat-up, tired Minnesota United blanked 3-0 at home by Chicago Fire

EARLIER: Loons’ Kelvin Yeboah, Carlos Harvey out at least a month

GAME STORY: Loons lose 2-1 to Austin FC in U.S. Open Cup semifinals

Following Minnesota United’s 2-1 extra-time loss to Austin FC, knocking the Loons out of the U.S. Open Cup in the semifinals, captain Michael Boxall didn’t need any prompting to put the game in context.

“I’ve been here far too long — seven, eight years — and we’ve been in that position what, three times?” he said. “It doesn’t come around too often, so it sucks.”

Die-hard Loons fans know exactly which were the three times he was referring to.

Read more: Minnesota United falls to Austin FC in U.S. Open Cup Semis

“It’s the possibility of playing a final in your own stadium, which I’m sure I’ll say to the players in the coming days — that’s not something that you necessarily get across a 10-, 12-year career at this level,” manager Eric Ramsay said. “So it’s a really unique opportunity and one that we’ve got to take advantage of.”

It’s one of the beauties of soccer, that there are playoffs in the middle of the season. It’s something the WNBA and NBA have started trying to replicate in their own schedules. It’s everything a Loons fan could want.

Isn’t it?

Read more: Minnesota United pushes tickets for U.S. Open Cup semifinal

GAME STORY: Minnesota United comes alive late for 3-1 victory at San Diego that puts top of Western Conference within reach

When the dust settled from Minnesota United’s 3-1 victory at San Diego late Saturday night, the Loons were left in a place they have simply never been at this point of the season.

The victory meant the Loons set a club record for points in a season, with 54. It also put them squarely in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference. They now trail San Diego by only two points with four games to play — though Vancouver, which hammered Philadelphia 7-0 on Saturday night, is two points back of the Loons and has two games in hand.

Read more: Analysis: Loons’ victory at San Diego is the latest sign of a special season

It is very tempting to cast Saturday’s clash between Minnesota United and San Diego FC not only as a battle of the top two teams in the Western Conference standings but also as a referendum on the game of soccer itself.

Read more: Minnesota United’s MLS game at San Diego pits separate approaches

He’s been in the United States less than a week, but it feels like you can already tell that new Minnesota United attacker Dominik Fitz is a veteran.

Conducting what was purportedly his first-ever interview in English, Fitz at one point struggled to find a word, then stopped himself and said, politely, “Next question.”

Veteran move, new guy.

Read more: Minnesota United welcomes attacker Dominik Fitz to the fold