WHO: Memphis 901 FC, 2-4-6, 10 points, 4th place Group G
WHAT: A regular season USL Championship match
WHEN: Saturday, September 19, 2020, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Lynn Family Stadium
WATCH:
For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter and Louisville City FC on Facebook, and louisvillecityfc on Instagram.
On the WBKI-TV (The CW)/ESPN+ streaming call: Josh Eastern (play by play) and Devon Kerr (color).
And for AM 1080 WKJK on the radio: Clay Ables (play by play) and Jeff Greer (color).
MARCH: The Louisville Ledgehogs recommend just walking in a circle. We subscribe, as long as you’re wearing a mask and stay six feet apart. But that’s about it.
WHO, AGAIN? Memphis is bad, has been bad, and will likely remain bad for the foreseeable future. 901 general manager/goalkeeper/broadcaster Tim Howard fired the club’s first ever head coach earlier this week because of bad results, I guess. However, their results have always been pretty bad, which begs the question “what was it about this week that was different than any other week?” I don’t know the answer, and I don’t really care what it is unless it’s nefarious and inflammatory, the best kind of answer.
Memphis was slotted into Group F thanks to That ‘Rona, and were fortunate enough to land in a kind-of mediocre group with North Carolina FC, Birmingham Legion, and Charlotte Independence. Getting out of that group didn’t seem particularly insurmountable, as the group combined has a total of maybe three playoff appearances in the past two seasons.
Memphis crashed and burned, anyway. They’ve picked up ten points in twelve matches, won just two games, and have a -8 goal difference going into Saturday. They’ve scored 17 goals and given up 25. Their 16% conversion rate is obviously good, and just as obviously deceiving. While Memphis can kinda score, they can’t defend as 901 has surrendered at least two goals in five of their past six matches, and have only one clean sheet all season. All that frustration has led to two red cards and 27 yellows this season, which is a lot!
The guys I’d watch for are Brandon Allen, a large, bull-like known quantity, and US youth national teamer Matt Hundley. Mark Segbers and Zach Carroll were also good before they got to Memphis, so they’re worth looking out for, too. The most creative player on the field for 901 this season, though, has been Keanu Marsh-Brown.
For City, the question is who starts after a lot of guys doing two full shifts in the past week? This is a match really any purple lineup should win. Thanks to a four point cushion over Indy going into the last three games of the season, it would seem a good opportunity to get some guys that don’t have many minutes some time. I don’t actually believe Hackworth is going to pull a wholesale lineup change, as there’s no evidence he’d be willing to do that based on his tenure here in Louisville thus far. But I wouldn’t hate to see Elijah Wynder get some minutes, maybe a start for Jason Johnson, let Chris Hubbard play, see what Akil Watts can do with more responsibility. I’m pretty sure JoGo gets a start. After that, I have no idea. But that’s why games like this are fun!
No, it’s not a throw-away. City would probably like to pick up as many points as they can for playoff-seeding purposes, but I still think we can have both: a very different looking personnel package AND three points against a listless Memphis team. Is that cockiness? Yep. But I think it’s also perfectly reasonable.
Either way, let’s go get some points. VAMOS MORADOS!
