Sports stats



USL Louisville City FC

What to Watch for with LouCity at Birmingham Legion FC

June 28, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC defender Wesley Charpie with possession
Louisville City FC defender Wesley Charpie with possession
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Chris Carter)

Coming off its first defeat on home soil, first-place Louisville City FC will aim to rebound on the road against Birmingham Legion FC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

That 5-2 loss to Rhode Island FC marked the end of LouCity's seven-match winning streak at Lynn Family Stadium, where the boys in purple conceded five home goals for the first time ever. But City has made a habit of bouncing back this year after a rare poor result.

Each time the boys in purple have tasted defeat, they have responded with a win - twice in USL Championship play and again after bowing out of the U.S. Open Cup. Coach Danny Cruz's side has out-scored opponents by a 7-1 aggregate score in those bounceback performances, earning two clean sheets.

"If there's anything we continue to show this year it is that we have resolve," Cruz said after the Rhode Island game. "We have a group that is tight. We have a group that wants to go to battle together, and we're going to respond. There's no question."

LouCity (11-3-2, 35 points) will travel to Birmingham's Protective Stadium to mark its fourth away trip this month - tied for the most of any Eastern Conference club.

It's the return game from a March 30 matchup at Lynn Family Stadium. Led by an in-form Wilson Harris up front, LouCity ran away to a 5-0 victory, scoring three times within a 16-minute span to put that game away in the second half.

Birmingham (7-5-3, 24 points) enters off a comeback victory Wednesday at Detroit City FC, prevailing by a 2-1 score on the road to move into fifth on the table. However, Legion FC has scored just eight home goals this season; only three USL Championship clubs have hit the back of the net fewer times.

The boys in purple are 6-4-2 all-time against Birmingham across all competitions. In the five matches away from Louisville, City is 2-1-2 with its most recent win in Alabama coming in October of 2021.

Follow along

- The game will air live locally on WBKI/The CW and ESPN Louisville's AM 680/FM 105.7.

- If streaming, download the free WDRB+ app to watch the local feed in Louisville. ESPN+ or Golazo Network also streams the home feed of all USL Championship games not selected for national TV.

- For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @loucityfc on Twitter. Also, find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram and Louisville City FC on Facebook.

Player availability report

Kyle Adams (out)

Brian Ownby (out)

Adrien Perez (out)

Story lines ...

Record pace: LouCity is in contention to challenge Phoenix Rising FC's 2019 squad for the USL Championship's single-season points record. The Western Conference outfit holds the current record for points in a season at 78 (2.29 points per game). City has so far collected 2.19 points per game in its 16 matches.

Raining goals: LouCity also continues to score at a record-setting pace with 42 goals, a number that is more than double all but four of the USL Championship's other 23 teams. At a rate of 2.56 goals per game, the boys in purple are also racing to match 2019's Phoenix Rising FC, which scored 89 goals, or 2.62 per game. City has scored in 15 of its 16 games, a mark unmatched across the league this year.

Tale of the tape: LouCity's score line against Rhode Island was historically bad, but it doesn't represent the run of play. City dominated its last-out foe in attacking categories, generating 3.44 expected goals to the visitors' 1.62. But the boys in purple failed to finish enough chances on a night when they tried 27 shots. Meanwhile, RIFC netted five of its six shots on target.

Force out wide: The left-sided winger Jake Morris subbed on at halftime vs. Rhode Island and made an instant impact on the flank. He finished with the team lead in shots on target, and second in chances created, netting a brilliant free kick in second half stoppage time. That put him in a grouping with a quintet of his teammates with at least six goal contributions this season.

Sharing the wealth: Veteran midfield Dylan Mares scored his first goal of the season for Louisville against Rhode Island and his first at Lynn Family Stadium since last August. He became the 14th different goal scorer for City this season, the most in the USL Championship. It's the most goal scorers LouCity has had in a season since 2021.

Midfield Maestro: Taylor Davila picked up his second assist of the season against Rhode Island, cleverly chipping a pass over the back line to set up Mares' finish touch. Davila, who led Louisville in final third entries last Saturday, also paces all qualified City players in passing accuracy (85.29%). If he continues at this pace, he will become the first LouCity player with more than 100 minutes played to pass at higher than 85.25% since 2021.

Jansen's jolt: Jansen Wilson, a City rookie, provided the spark the boys in purple needed to sink Pittsburgh on the road last Wednesday. The Elizabethtown, Kentucky, native converted a one-timer from distance four minutes into the second half for his third goal of the campaign. Wilson followed that up by leading City with eight chances created against Rhode Island.

Battling adversity: LouCity will continue to be without key attackers Adrien Perez and Brian Ownby this weekend. The club added to its list defender Kyle Adams, who injured his foot against Pittsburgh and did not play in the Rhode Island game. Those injuries, coupled with schedule congestion, led Cruz to make four changes to his lineup against RIFC, including two on the front line.

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC defender Wesley Charpie with possession
Louisville City FC defender Wesley Charpie with possession
(Chris Carter)		   

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 28, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central