Minnesota United FC will likely be without its two main forward options on Saturday, a blow for a team that went scoreless in its opening match.
Pablo Campos is suspended for tomorrow's 2:30 tilt against Edmonton, the last vestige of his playoff red card last season. The big news, though, is that his strike partner Etienne Barbara was termed "unlikely" to go against the Eddies by head coach Manny Lagos, thanks to a hamstring issue.
The good news for Minnesota is that most of the rest of the squad is rounding into shape, injury-wise. Forward / wing Max Griffin, who missed the opening game with a hamstring injury of his own, is ready to go for Saturday. Lagos was intentionally vague about who he plans to replace Barbara with, but he mentioned Griffin as a possibility, leading me to believe we might see Griffin make his regular-season debut in the starting lineup, possibly in tandem with Travis Wall.
Midfielder Bryan Arguez is also a candidate to make his first regular-season debut with the team, after missing part of preseason and the first game of the regular season with a quadriceps injury.
Left back Justin Davis, who hobbled off with a high ankle sprain against San Antonio, is also set to return to the field, just two weeks after his injury. With Edmonton looking much more dangerous offensively this season than in past years, Minnesota will be happy to have its first-team back line ready to go.
A few other notes:
Tchoupe moves on
In a press release, United announced that they have released center back Ernest Tchoupe. The Cameroonian was mostly a backup last year, and struggled during the preseason this year to press his case while other players were out of the squad. Kyle Altman's return for the spring season gave Minnesota three experienced center backs, making Tchoupe somewhat expendable.
