Preview: First-place Sporting KC travels to face expansion side Minnesota United FC on Sunday

First-place Sporting Kansas City (5-1-3, 18 points) travels north for its inaugural MLS meeting with expansion side Minnesota United FC (2-5-2, 8 points) on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The first installment of the regional matchup will kick off at 12:30 p.m. CT before a nationally televised audience on FS1 and FOX Deportes. Local radio broadcasts will air on ESPN 99.3 FM (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish), while live updates will be available on the Sporting KC Uphoria mobile app, free to download on the App Store and Google Play. In addition, The Final Whistle postgame show will air immediately after the match on 99.3 FM.

All Sporting Kansas City fans are welcome to attend the official watch party for Sunday’s showdown at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District (1370 Grand Blvd.). No Other Pub will open at 11 a.m. CT with matchday specials beginning at noon, including $4 Bud Light drafts and an all-you-can-eat buffet with hamburgers, hot dogs, wings, cheese curds, pretzels and queso.

• Matt Besler: "Minnesota is going to be a tough game"

Sporting Kansas City enters the weekend as one of Major League Soccer’s hottest teams, winners in four of their last five matches including a 2-0 home victory over the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday. Forward Dom Dwyer led the way with a second-half brace — scoring his fourth and fifth goals over a torrid five-game stretch — and goalkeeper Tim Melia tallied his league-leading sixth shutout of 2017 to lower his goals against average to a gaudy 0.33 through nine games. The result vaulted Sporting KC to the top of the Western Conference table, one point ahead of the Portland Timbers.

Manager Peter Vermes has found a winning formula with continuity along the backline, as defensive quartet Graham Zusi, Ike Opara, Matt Besler and Seth Sinovic have all played every minute of the 2017 campaign to date. Disruptive midfielders Roger Espinoza and Ilie have also served as valuable cogs and distributors of the ball — both ranking among the top 10 passers in MLS. Only the 2010 LA Galaxy have conceded fewer goals through nine games of a season (two) than Sporting KC’s three.

Minnesota United FC labored through a tumultuous start to their inaugural season, hemorrhaging 18 goals across four matches during the month of March while picking up a single point. The Loons have shown sizeable improvements since then, however, taking seven points from their last five games — including home wins over Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids last month.

• Manager Peter Vermes: "We've got to be prepared for Sunday's match"

Led by head coach Adrian Heath, Minnesota stumbled to a 1-0 home defeat to the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday. It was just the second time the Loons had been shut out in 2017 and snapped a two-game winning streak at TCF Bank Stadium.

Forward Christian Ramirez, who scored 51 NASL goals for the club from 2014-2016, leads Minnesota with five goals this season. Midfielder Kevin Molino adds another dimension to the Loons’ attack as one of just six MLS players with at least three goals and three assists, while Costa Rican international Johan Venegas has scored (two) or assisted (two) in four of his eight appearances.

Sunday will present the first MLS meeting between the clubs, who have previously battled twice in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Sporting KC defeated the Loons 2-0 in the 2014 Round of 32 at Children’s Mercy Park and most recently prevailed in the same round of the 2016 edition, earning a 2-1 extra time win at National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota. In that match, Benny Feilhaber scored and assisted on either side of Ramirez’s equalizer from the penalty spot.