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USL Indy Eleven

Indy Eleven Match Preview

August 3, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Indy Eleven News Release


Sunday, August 5, 2018 - 5:00 P.M. EST

Louisville Slugger Stadium - Louisville, Kentucky

Watch/Listen Live:

Local/National TV: MyINDY 23

Streaming Video: ESPN+ ($)

Follow Live:

In-game updates: Follow @IndyElevenLive on Twitter

Official stats: USL Match Center

WEEK 21: BEST OUT OF THREE, GAME TWO AGAINST LOUISVILLE CITY FC

Indy Eleven face Louisville City FC for the second time in the 2018 USL campaign on August 5. The first meeting between the two rivals took place in Week 8 when the "Boys in Blue" defeated Louisville 1-0, at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Indy Eleven (9W-7L-4D) are currently sixth in the Eastern Conference with 31 points. The "Boys in Blue" downed Bethlehem Steel FC in their previous outing on the road, 1-0. The match seemed destined for a draw until Zach Steinberger's 86th minute corner kick found an unmarked Jack McInerney who headed the ball home. The goal is McInerney's fourth of the season, placing him in a three way tie for top scorer with defender Ayoze and forward Soony Saad. Indy goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams also recorded his eighth clean sheet in 2018, earning him a spot in the USL Team of Week in Week 20. The victory marks Indy Eleven's second win in their last five matches, three of which have been on the road.

Louisville City FC (10W-4L-5D) is currently fourth in the Eastern Conference with 35 points, just four points in front of sixth placed Indy. Louisville defeated struggling Ottawa Fury FC, 3-0, in their last fixture. Louisville captain and midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo opened the scoring in the 13th minute after he finished a corner played into the box with a diving header. Defender Paco Craig scored the second in the 47th minute and midfielder Devon Williams scored the third of the match and his first of the season 10 minutes later. Louisville goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh recorded his sixth clean sheet of the season in the shutout. Louisville defender Alexis Souahy will be unavailable for the fixture against Indy Eleven as a result of a red card received in the 77th minute.

The "Boys in Blue's" match at Louisville will be the last of a stretch of four games on the road. Indy head coach Martin Rennie will hope to return to Indy with at least half of the available points from the four-game stint away from home.

INDY ELEVEN PLAYER TO WATCH: MF MATT WATSON

Indy Eleven midfielder and captain Matt Watson influenced the match against Bethlehem Steel FC for a full 90 minutes, arguably having his best performance of the season despite not directly influencing the scoreline. The Englishman's dominance in the midfield can easily be accredited as a key reason "Indiana's Team" brought back three points from Pennsylvania.

Watson completed over 90 percent of his passes throughout the game and created two opportunities for teammates. The 33-year old veteran midfielder displayed his defensive abilities, netting four interceptions and a tackle. Indy will need another dominant midfield performance from Watson in order to hand Louisville only their second loss at home.

LOUISVILLE CITY FC PLAYER TO WATCH: MF OSCAR JIMENEZ

Louisville City FC midfielder Oscar Jimenez currently leads the team in assists with six. Two of those assists came in the previous fixture against Ottawa Fury FC. The 28-year old has only averaged a 72 percent passing accuracy so far in 2018, which lived up to the billing against Ottawa as he averaged 71 percent, but what makes Jimenez dangerous is his set piece ability.

Jimenez's assists against Ottawa both came from dead ball situations. The first was an in-swinging corner kick played right into the edge of the six yard box that left the goalkeeper stranded in no man's land. The second was an in-swinging free kick from near half field that found the feet of defender Paco Craig near the penalty marker. Indy defenders will need to be weary of Jimenez's perfectly weighted passes from set pieces in order to defeat Louisville.

MATCHUP TO MARK: INDY GK OWAIN FON WILLIAMS VS. LOUISVILLE FW CAMERON LANCASTER

The "Boys in Blue" shut out Louisville City FC the first time the two teams played in Indianapolis. Now, Indy travels to Kentucky to face a LCFC side that has scored the fourth most goals and possesses the third best goal scorer in the Eastern Conference.

Indy goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams kept another clean sheet in Indy's previous match against Bethlehem Steel FC. The 31-year-old recorded four saves on his way to shutting out the third highest scoring team in the Eastern Conference with a stellar record at home. Now in Week 21, Fon Williams faces Louisville City FC, another team with an incredible home record and high powered offense. The Welshman tallied two saves and a punch against the Kentucky based team the first time around. He'll need to repeat his Team of the Week performance from Bethlehem against a Louisville side that has scored 20 goals at home this season.

In order to add his ninth clean sheet to his 2018 USL season total, Fon Williams will have to stop the power house that leads the Louisville City offense, forward Cameron Lancaster, from finding the back of the net. Lancaster wasn't able to net against Indy in Week 8 or against Ottawa Fury FC last time out, but has tallied 10 on the season so far. That tally sees him as joint owner of third most goals scored in the Eastern Conference and sole owner of most goals scored on Louisville City FC. Lancaster came on as a sub in the fixture against Ottawa, but expect the 25-year-old Englishman to play the full 90 minutes as he did in Week 8 against Indy Eleven.

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