What: U.S. Open Cup Round of 16

When: 6:30 tonight

Where: Allianz Field

Stream: Paramount+

Weather: Rain, 48 degrees, 6 mph south wind

Form: MNUFC blew out St. Louis 3-0 in MLS play Saturday. Both teams beat USL Championship sides in Round of 32 on May 7 to advance. Loons topped Louisville City 1-0; St. Louis beat Union Omaha 2-0.

Update: After St. Louis’s MLS winless streak reached 10 Saturday, reports in Sweden had head coach Olof Mellberg being fired. MLS insider Tom Bogert said that news was premature.

Another update: Other reports in Sweden had club Malmo pursuing Loons attacker Sang Bin Jeong. Before the primary transfer window closed in May, at least one other MLS Eastern Conference team looked into acquiring the South Korean.

Absences: Joseph Rosales (suspension) and Kipp Keller (hamstring) are out.

Starting XI: Against Louisville, the Loons used a 5-4-1 formation: FW Darius Randell; MF Sam Shashoua, MF Curt Calov, MF Hoyeon Jung, MF Sang Bin Jeong; LWB Kieran Chandler, CB Devin Padelford, CB Morris Duggan, CB DJ Taylor, RWB Julian Gressel; GK Wessel Speel.

Milestone: Against Louisville, Randell became the youngest United player to score a first-team goal in its MLS history. He was 17 years and 255 days old.

Stat: MNUFC called up nine players on short-term loans for the Open Cup game against Louisville; they won’t reach anywhere near that amount Wednesday.

Quote: “We desperately want to win the game and are not taking it lightly in any way,” head coach Eric Ramsay said Tuesday. “A home game. An opportunity to progress and then get to within three games of playing in a final is huge for us. It’s not easy to win a trophy within the context of a 30-team scramble over the course of a year, so we want to make sure we really push, but also balance that we play a lot of games this month.”

Context: One Cinderella; 15 MLS teams. The USL Championship’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds are the only non-MLS team remaining in the competition. They play Philadelphia Union on Wednesday.

Look-ahead: If the Loons advance, quarterfinals are July 8-9. The semifinals are Sept. 16-17 and final is Oct. 1.

Scouting report: St. Louis is the more desperate team, while the Loons are in better form and have worked to build up players outside its first-choice starting XI with more minutes against Louisville and in the MLS loss at Houston last Wednesday.

Prediction: More first-team-type players are expected be in the mix on Wednesday and the Loons will be able to keep St. Louis down and out. Defense leads to cup runs. Minnesota wins 1-0.

— Andy Greder