Week 3 Preview: all you need to know
Astute readers will have noticed we have not posted a Diving Deep analysis of the Louisville game nor have we posted about the disaster in Little Rock. We’ve been busy with real life but hopefully we can get back to normal service soon. As far as the loss in midweek is concerned we’ll say this: it was more watchable with the glitchy stream than after it was fixed.
The most important part
One small piece of good news from the Open Cup game was that Sebastian Tregarthen was in the 18. He’s been on the injury list along with a host of other players. He didn’t play but presumably he is able to see some minutes if needed.
It’s also possible Tyler Pasher will be back for this weekend. If true that would be good but don’t expect him to see significant minutes just yet (or whenever he does return).
Detroit City did not play in the Open Cup; they will not enter until the third round in about a month. That plus being at home and having played Saturday last week rather than Sunday gives them an obvious advantage this weekend. This is also their home opener so they will be wanting to put on a show for their fans. They also sit on two wins so far and are looking rather better than most pundits gave them credit for preseason. That being said, one win was over The™ Miami FC (2-0 away). That’s not a great achievement but the win last week was a close affair that ended 2-1 over the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. The Switchbacks are not looking like repeat contenders but even so.
In the two games so far Detroit has played a 5-3-2 with the exact same lineup. Tactically they were polar opposites though. Detroit dominated possession, field position and shooting over Miami and was on the short end of all those stats against Colorado Springs. The winning goal against the Switchbacks was an own goal although supersub Sebastian Guenzatti (who joined the team this season from Indy Eleven) was right over the ball waiting to tap it in anyway. The other three Detroit goals were all scored by different players. All of which is to say: there really isn’t much to evaluate this team on.
Five Legion players for their first starts on Wednesday and of those three were seeing their first action of the season (Finn Calloway, Tiago Suarez and Fernando Delgado). Stephen Turnbull played 45 minutes, Roman Torres played 60 minutes and Temi Ereku played 71 minutes. The squad should therefore not be too tired. There is a good chance the team was looking past Little Rock to Detroit. If so, hopefully the arrogance has been shaken out of the Three Sparks and there will be extra motivation to perform not only this weekend but in the league generally.
Prediction: I’m going with another draw. I think the Legion will wake up (again) and give City a lot of trouble. But as noted above, they will not give up easily in front of their fanatical home crowd.
Best of the rest
Taking the week off will be the Charleston Battery and the Las Vegas Lights.
The Legion play the joint earliest game on the schedule, so you will have a fair selection of later games to choose from. Here are our recommendations:
Louisville City v. Loudoun United (3:00pm, ESPN+)
This one clashes with the Legion game but could be worth watching later. This pits the Legion’s first two opponents against each other. It could give some answers as to whether Loudoun is for real. They are on short rest though: they beat West Chester United 3-2 Tuesday in the Open Cup; Louisville hasn’t started Cup play yet.
New Mexico United v. El Paso Locomotive (4:00pm, ESPN+)
Between them these two have seen 20 goals in 4 games. If you like attacking soccer, this could be your cup of tea. El Paso also look rather better than last year but their two draws so far (2-2 with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks and 4-4 with Phoenix Rising) have been wild affairs.
Orange County v.Monterey Bay (9:00pm, ESPN+)
An all-California matchup that could be fun to watch. Both teams have improved since last season and Monterey Bay in particular could surprise a few teams this year.
