The away-heavy recent stretch has been tough on Louisville City and despite the less-than-desirable results, they have done well to stay out of the loss column. Winning the regular-season crown may no longer be in the cards (barring some wild turn of events) but they need wins to have as much of the playoffs at home as possible. Returning home and grabbing a big win against New Mexico United was a confidence-booster for the squad. Next up for the boys in purple is Sporting Kansas City 2 at Lynn Family Stadium (sporting breast cancer awareness kits shown below).
Sporting KC is… not good. They sit at the bottom of the Central Division and are already out of playoff contention. They rank amongst the worst in the league alongside most of the other MLS 2 teams. With only 3.7 shots on target per match (26th), 1.1 goals per match (25th), and 1.8 goals conceded per match (27th), they really do not have any redeeming qualities. On the latest produced “Good-Lucky” matrix (found here), they are comfortably balanced between both “bad” and “unlucky”. Enoch Mushagalusa and Jacob Davis have been solid for them, but that’s about it. City has not lost to them since July 2020 and it seems unlikely they are on course to change that.
The storyline here isn’t so much the opposition but rather the context and bigger picture. There is no good reason that Louisville shouldn’t beat Swope. FiveThirtyEight is only giving them a 9% chance to win! What does matter is the race against Birmingham. Unfortunately for LouCity, the Legion has made the race for first in the Central Division much tighter than us Louisvillians would like. FiveThirtyEight has City at a 73% chance to lock up 1st but currently, only 2 points separate the two sides. Neither can afford to drop points. LOUvSKC is on Saturday while the Legion will face a struggling Indy Eleven the following day. It will be a match Louisville City fans will want to keep a close eye on. We are set to have an exciting and potentially stressful October!
Parting Thoughts
Heading up to Indy to watch LouCity beat up on the Eleven again? You can get your tickets to that away match on 10/16 here.
The LouCity team is forming a fundraising walk team for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Light The Night. I encourage you to channel your charitable side and contribute whatever you can.
If you’re looking to expand your purple wardrobe, Vamos Morados shirts are available!
Want to do a little more reading on LouCity? Might I suggest How’s It Going? Part 3, What Are Expected Goals (xG)?, The Tifos of Louisville City, or The Louisville City Youth Movement?
Be sure to check out the Vamos Morados Podcast featuring me, Benton, and Zach Allen-Kelly. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Audible, and Spotify. Everything you need to listen can be found on the Podcast page. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!
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