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USL FC Tulsa

Preview: FC Tulsa at Louisville City FC, Friday, September 3, 6:30 p.m. CT

September 2, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Tulsa News Release


TULSA - FC Tulsa is streaking again. Another three-match winning streak, the third in its last 23 regular season matches, has FC Tulsa firmly into third place in the Central Division with eyes on a Top-2 spot.

Tulsa can narrow that gap further on Friday night with a final trip to Louisville City FC at 6:30 p.m. CT, who maintain hold of the top spot in the Central. Nine points currently separate Louisville in 1st and FC Tulsa in 3rd, but a Tulsa win narrows that gap to six with still 11 matches remaining in the regular season.

Following this match, Louisville plays five consecutive road matches, while FC Tulsa will have five of its next six at home, a prime opportunity to make up ground in the race for home USL Championship Playoffs match. That chase starts with Friday's match - the final of four regular season meetings between Tulsa and Louisville.

SCOUTING LOUISVILLE CITY FC

LouCity is coming off a 2-1 defeat on the road at Birmingham, a result that ended its eight-match unbeaten streak and continued a trend that Louisville has been unable to break this season - all four of Louisville's losses this season have come when it has conceded first in a match. At home, LouCity is very difficult to triumph over. The club is 9W-1L-1D at Lynn Family Stadium with a goal differential of +16. However, Louisville will not see much of the home crowd until October. Its matchup with FC Tulsa is LouCity's only home match in an eight-match stretch of road competitions.

Forward Cameron Lancaster, who has scored five times against FC Tulsa this season, leads LouCity with 11 goals. Brian Ownby, who is listed on the injury report for LouCity along with another key player in Jonathan Gomez for Friday night, leads the club with seven assists (tying Ownby for third in USL Championship). Keeper Parker Siegfried has recorded 13 saves while conceding eight times for a 61.9% save pct.

SCORING FIRST

Scoring first has been the key to FC Tulsa's success in August. Tulsa is now 9W-1L-0D when being the first on the scoreboard and has improved its record to 8W-0L-0D when leading at halftime. Meanwhile, Louisville City FC struggles when not getting out to the early lead. LouCity has only lost four matches all season, and they conceded first in all four of those matchups.

MOLOTO MOMENTUM

Lebo Moloto has been a key contributor to FC Tulsa's recent stretch in which it has won four of its last five matches. After missing the start of the season due to injury, Moloto has returned to form atop the midfield, netting a first-half brace last weekend, logging his first two assists of the season, and creating at least two chances in every match over the club's last five matches. Moloto currently finds himself with 29 career goals and 29 career assists, just one away in each offensive stat to join the exclusive USL Championship 30-30 club. Moloto would be just the fifth player in League history to reach the milestone.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Three matches in a seven-day span can prove difficult for most clubs, but not for FC Tulsa. Tulsa came away with three wins and nine points last week, proving that even on short rest, FC Tulsa can stand up to the pressure. Four FC Tulsa players were named to the Week 19 Team of the Week by USL Championship, setting a club record for most players named to a single Team of the Week. Matt Sheldon, Lebo Moloto, and Marlon were all named to the Team of the Week Starting XI, and Jorge Corrales was named to the Bench as well.

RIVAS WITH EL SALVADOR

FC Tulsa forward Joaquín Rivas is back with El Salvador for the international window as "La Selecta" continues its quest to qualify for its first World Cup since 1982. Rivas and El Salvador will play the U.S. on Thursday, Sept. 2 and Honduras on Sunday, Sept 5 in San Salvador before taking on Canada on Wednesday, September 8 in Toronto.

HOW TO WATCH

TV: MY41

Stream: ESPN+ (US), YouTube (International)

Follow: You can follow FC Tulsa @FCTulsa on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Check out the FC Tulsa Statistics



United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 2, 2021


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