USL Birmingham Legion FC

Match Preview: Legion FC at Tampa Bay Rowdies

August 9, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release


MATCH INFO:

Birmingham Legion FC at Tampa Bay Rowdies

Saturday, August 10 - 6:30PM CT Kickoff - Al Lang Stadium, Tampa, FL

Watch - My68, ESPN+

Legion FC looks to continue to carry momentum from a four-game unbeaten streak to Florida to take on the league-leaders, Tampa Bay.

Head Coach Tom Soehn said, "They're a good team. We know what their strengths are and we're going to have to do a good job of trying to get them uncomfortable in those situations that they're good at. But we also see vulnerabilities, so it's up to us to capitalize on those vulnerabilities and make sure that we're lethal when we can do that. So, we've been working this week and are a little banged up, but that gives someone else a shot to take that role Everybody will know their role and it's just up to us to execute the game plan."

The Tampa Bay Rowdies currently sits in 1st place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings. The team has only fallen twice all year and only once at home, a 3-1 loss to North Carolina on June 8.

The Rowdies have allowed the least goals in the league (15) and have scored the third-most goals in the Eastern Conference (39). #13 Sebastian Guenzatti leads the team in shots (47) and is fourth in the league in goals (12), #15 Andrew Tinari and #11 Leo Fernandes are joint-first in the squad with five assists, and Tarek Morad leads with 1,170 passes, fourth-most in USL. Papé Diakité anchors the backline and leads the league with 121 clearances on the season.

When asked about this weekend's contest, #6 Anderson Asiedu said, "I'm excited. With the record they have and all the success that they've had we respect them, but in the same way they should respect us with what we've accomplished recently."

"We're not underestimating anybody; we're just going there for business. We want to prove to them the fact that they beat us here [in Birmingham] may make them underestimate us a little, but it's a new group of guys and we have a new winning mentality now. So, things are going well for them and things are going well for us, and we've got to find a way to get something from the game on the road."

#9 Chandler Hoffman ruptured his PCL on July 13 and is out the remainder of the season. #14 Daniel Johnson (calf), #16 Daigo Kobayashi (knee), and #88 Femi Hollinger-Janzen (concussion) are also out, per the UAB Medicine injury report. #5 Mikey Lopez will miss the trip due to a one-game suspension following his red card on August 2nd against Ottawa.

The only prior meeting between these two teams went the way of the Rowdies, 2-0 on June 1 in Birmingham with goals by Guenzatti and Tinari.

Follow @bhmlegion on Twitter for live game updates, and watch live on My68 and ESPN+.

The next Legion FC game takes place at home on Saturday, August 17 at BBVA Field versus fellow USL Championship expansion side Memphis 901 FC at 7:00PM. Tickets are available at bhmlegion.com/tickets or by calling the Legion FC Ticket Office at 205-600-4635.

Check out the Birmingham Legion FC Statistics



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 9, 2019


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