The last match did not go as planned for LouCity but they have a midweek opportunity to get back in the win column. The OKC Energy are heading east for their first visit to Lynn Family Stadium. Although OKC has largely been a west-aligned team, City has faced them before. Late June 2015, Louisville slaughtered the poor Energy 6-2. They did get a red card, but it was over 80 minutes into the match and is hardly the reason they lost. Can Louisville City turn this into another bloodbath?
If Tulsa is the team of the neutral fans for their high-scoring matches, the Energy are the opposite. If you peruse their 2021 matches, it’s filled with 1-0 and 1-1 score lines. Only two matches have had over three goals. According to FotMob, they are 28th for shots on target per match, 31st for goals, and 7th for goals conceded. Weak offense and effective defense. Perhaps LouCity can be the ones to bust the dam open. FiveThirtyEight is giving City a 61% chance to send OKC home a loser. Between the above stats and their 17% projection to make it to the playoffs, this feels like a winnable match *knocks on wood*.
Players to watch include Villyan Bijev, Conor Donovan, and Robert Coronado. The Bulgarian Bijev, a long-time Sacramento Republic player, leads his squad with four goals (tied 18th) and is tied for second with two assists. Donovan, a regular in the starting eleven, has two goals (tied for 2nd on the team) and the second-best player rating averaging 7.17. And finally, you have Coronado who is tied for first with two assists and leads his team with an average player rating of 7.53.
They may not be the most intimidating team on paper, but anyone can win on any given day. The boys will be upset from their previous match and looking to bounce back with an authoritative win. A very doable match but the short rest may not help anything. Perhaps there will be some roster experimentation to address the squad’s defensive woes and give some guys a break. We will find out tomorrow night!
Also worth noting is that the Energy had a match postponed due to… wait for it…. A power outage. You gotta love irony!
Parting Thoughts
Also, be sure to check out the Vamos Morados Podcast! I’m now in the podcasting game along with Zach Allen-Kelly. And it’s now available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Audible, Spotify, and probably other platforms I’m not specifically familiar with! Everything you need to listen can be found on the Podcast page. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Episode 3 is below!
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