Mikey Varas expects a high-level contest between his San Diego FC side and Minnesota United when the two teams lock horns at Snapdragon Stadium this weekend. 

San Diego were dealt their first defeat of the season in their last MLS fixture, losing 3-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes after first-half goals from Niko Tsakiris and Preston Judd. 

It's a result that leaves San Diego seventh in the Western Conference after six games, though their next fixture sees them reunite with some old foes. 

On their way to the Western Conference finals in 2025, Varas' side beat Minnesota 1-0 in the semi-finals, eventually losing 3-1 to the Vancouver Whitecaps at the next stage.

And the San Diego boss is expecting another competitive clash between the two sides, with Varas outlining the difficulties his team may come up against on home turf. 

"I think they [Minnesota] are very similar to last season with the caveat that they are having a little bit more possession this time around," Varas told reporters. 

"They might not be as drastic in the style of play, but they are really tough to break down. They have a lot of good defenders in the team and are very good on the counter. 

"They have some high-level talent that can get in the pocket and really hurt you. I can imagine it is going to be a tough match, like every game in the league is. 

"I would say it is going to be a closed game, where they are defensively sound and make it very tough for us. It will be important for us to play our best game."

Minnesota, meanwhile, snapped their three-game winless run in MLS with a 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy last time out.

Anthony Markanich's opener was quickly cancelled out by Marco Reus' 57th-minute finish, but Kelvin Yeboah struck the decisive blow 10 minutes later to seal the triumph. 

Minnesota improved after a tepid first half, boosting their expected goals (xG) tally from 0.13 to 1.28 after the break, much to the delight of boss Cameron Knowles. 

"I thought it was a really good game for us," Knowles said. "We spoke about how this was a team that we felt like we would match up extremely well against. 

"We went there and got a result and when I look at the first half, we had a number of moments where we just simply did not reward ourselves with our final product. 

"I think from what we wanted to see, there were so many elements from that first half, and the guys eventually rewarded themselves with the goals during the second half." 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

San Diego – Marcus Ingvartsen

Ingvartsen has scored in each of San Diego's first three home games in 2026, and he will be keen to make his mark once again at Snapdragon Stadium.

The only other San Diego player to score in three consecutive regular-season home games is Hirving Lozano, who did so between April and May last year.

Minnesota United – Anthony Markanich

Markanich scored his first goal of 2026 last Saturday, and his 10th since the start of last season.

Six of those goals have come on the road, matching Yeboah for the team's most road goals in that time. One of his six away goals came last season at San Diego.

MATCH PREDICTION: SAN DIEGO WIN

San Diego and Minnesota split a pair of regular-season games last season with the road team winning each meeting, before San Diego beat the Loons 1-0 in the Conference semi-finals.

Minnesota have, however, won on four of their last six trips to California in the regular season (L2), after having four wins in their 20 games in the Golden State prior to that (D5 L11).

San Diego have also conceded eight goals in their last three matches (D2 L1), allowing multiple goals in each of those. Last season, they won five MLS matches when conceding two or more goals, the most victories in such games by any MLS team in 2025.

But Minnesota have been impressive on the road. Their win over the Galaxy marked their 11th road success with two or more goals since the start of 2025. Only four MLS teams have recorded more multi-goal road games in that span.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

San Diego – 48.6%

Draw – 25.8%

Minnesota United – 25.6%