It’s on to the next installment of the Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest. This time, Louisville City will be traveling up to Indianapolis to take on Indy Eleven at Lucas Oil Stadium. Lou City produced a draw and a win in the previous two LIPAFCs. The pressure will be on to come away from this match with something to show for it. A draw in St Louis kept Morados behind Indy in the standing. With St Louis FC only two points behind, it will be important to make the most of the encounter. A draw would keep Indy from pulling ahead but a win would City take first place in Group (and keep St Louis at bay). Only six matches remain and little room for error.
The last match that Indy played was their loss to Lou at Lynn Family Stadium. So not much has changed from last time (here is the previous match preview for those who may have missed it). Tyler Pasher and Andrew Carleton are still dangerous opponents to watch. They are an excellent team and will be hungry for a little redemption. During the last match, Lou City outcoached Indy. Coach Hackworth did a tremendous job mixing things up to catch Indy off balance. The usage of Luke to bully the backline and then the switch to put on Ownby’s speed destabilized them. The Louisville backline was able to contain Pasher. All that led to a winning formula. Indy did not have an answer but they’ve had some time to review and plan for that scenario. I do not expect the same approach from Hack but he may have other bits of trickery up his sleeve. City is the away team this time and they could be a little more conservative but that doesn’t seem like Lou City’s style.
FiveThirtyEight is not optimistic about Louisville’s outlook on Saturday. They are giving them only a 29% chance to win compared to the home side’s 42% chance to win. We are in the last leg of the season and every result will have a big impact on our postseason hopes. We could learn a lot about the grit of this team during the match. They need to be able to overcome adverse, high-pressure situations like this for any hopes in a deep playoff run (or even making it at all). If you are making the trek up north, be safe and mask up. Vamos Morados!
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