It’s been a busy week for Louisville City! A match against Memphis 901 on Saturday, a midweek match against Birmingham Legion, and now a road trip to Tulsa. Short schedules like these are always tough on a team but bagging six points over the previous two matches adds a little extra positivity to the trek west. FC Tulsa and LouCity have squared off before, but it’s been a while. City and the Roughnecks met twice in the 2015 season. Six years later, they are back in the same conference.
Tulsa has four wins and three losses in 2021 and currently are sitting in a playoff position. Offensively, they have been performing well. 13 goals (tied for 4th in the league) on 77 shots with ~4.9 on-target per match (6th in the league). The Roughnecks are averaging 1.86 goals a match and an xG For of 1.05. Defense, however, is another story. They are averaging 2.14 conceded a match with an xG Against of 1.08 and only two clean sheets. In late May/early June, they suffered heavy defeats against ATL2 and SKC2 but enter the contest against LouCity coming off a high-scoring win. In the preseason, I predicted them to be “decent” and appear on track to live up to that billing given FiveThirtyEight’s 60% chance for them to enter the post-season.
FC Tulsa has some interesting players on their roster, including Joaquin Rivas, Darío Suárez, and Rodrigo Da Costa. Rivas leads his team with 5 goals (tied 5th in the league) and a player rating of 7.87 having only played five of seven matches. The former St Louis FC man is having quite the season so far and will be a threat to watch out for. Suárez is close behind Rivas with four goals and a player rating of 7.39, the third-best on the team. Complimenting this pair is Da Costa who has three assists, two goals, and a rating of 7.42. All three have been outstanding and have been critical components of Tulsa’s strong attack.
Despite their offensive prowess and home-field advantage, FiveThirtyEight is giving the edge to Louisville City with a 45% chance to win compared to FC Tulsa’s 29%. The short week will likely be a factor for the boys in purple, however, their bench is deep and has proven to be effective. Make sure you tune in or join the watch party to catch the action this weekend! Vamos Morados!