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USL Louisville City FC

What to Watch for with LouCity vs. Detroit City FC

April 7, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC forward Enoch Mushagalusa
Louisville City FC forward Enoch Mushagalusa
(Louisville City FC, Credit: EM Dash Photography)

Two clubs looking for a return to form in USL Championship play meet Saturday at Lynn Family Stadium, which will offer something for fans of all ages thanks to a special 3 p.m. Easter weekend start time.

LouCity and Detroit both dropped consecutive league games before defeating lower-division competition by 1-0 scores in midweek Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup games. Although it's early, losses have the boys in purple fourth and the rouge and gold eighth on the Eastern Conference table.

That's the gist of what's at stake Saturday on the field. And as for off it?

Gates to Lynn Family Stadium's Fan Zone open at 1:30 p.m., when ticket holders can take advantage of a photo op with the Easter bunny and partake in the club's $2 beer happy hour. At halftime, an Easter egg hunt for the kids will take place in the seltzer garden on the stadium's east concourse.

Visit LouCity.com/Easter for more information.

Follow along

- Saturday's game will air live on WDRB and ESPN Louisville's 680/105.7.

-If streaming, download the free WDRB Now app to watch the local feed in Louisville. ESPN+ 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 and Louisville City FC on Facebook. Also find the club at louisvillecityfc on Instagram.

Player availability report

Wes Charpie (Out)

Cameron Lancaster (Out)

Niall McCabe (Out)

Story lines...

Series history: Detroit City remains a relative newcomer to the USL Championship, moving into the league in 2022. LouCity won both of last year's regular season meetings as well as a matchup in the Round of 32 of the U.S. Open Cup. The teams went to a fiery penalty shootout in the Open Cup, and solid fan support on both sides laid the foundation for a budding rivalry.

Familiar face: Midfielder Richard Ballard - a Louisville native who started his pro career with LouCity - newly wears Detroit City's rouge and gold as an offseason signing from Miami FC. Ballard spent three seasons in Louisville, including the 2017 and 2018 USL Championship title runs. The midfielder has started all four Detroit league games so far this year.

Peaks and valleys: LouCity's recent form is all the more mystifying when considering how the squad started the year and what it returned from the last. City has 21 players back from a group that set club records for points earned (72) and wins (22) in a single season and won the 2022 Eastern Conference title. The boys in purple then opened 2023 with away victories at Orange County SC and Monterey Bay FC.

A Lynn low: Last time at home for a USL Championship game, LouCity also kicked off at 3 p.m., welcoming a home-opening record crowd of 10,881 that included local superstar Jack Harlow. But the boys in purple lost by an uncharacteristic 3-0 score to previously winless El Paso Locomotive FC. City is still s sparkling 24-5-2 at Lynn Family Stadium since capacity limits first lifted at the venue amid the COVID-19 pandemic in June of 2021.

Another clunker: LouCity failed to bounce back from the El Paso loss, going on the road last weekend for a 5-0 defeat at Western Conference power Sacramento Republic FC. Never before had City conceded five goals in league play. The margin of defeat ranked as LouCity's widest in a USL Championship game, exceeding the club's 4-0 stumble against FC Montreal in its inaugural 2015 season.

The bigger picture: City's hot start had the numbers-based FiveThirtyEight.com giving the boys in purple a staggering 22% chance of winning the USL Championship title two weeks into the season. Even with the more recent losses, that number remains 16%. The Western Conference's San Antonio FC (13%), Sacramento (9%) and San Diego Loyal (8%) are next in line.

Defensive woes: One of the USL Championship's stingiest teams in 2022, LouCity has leaked goals during its two-game losing skid. According to Stats Perform, the boys in purple have allowed five shots and two goals off defensive errors already this season. Totals of eight shots and five goals from errors were season highs for City both set in 2019.

Keeping busy: LouCity conceded 22 attempted shots against Sacramento, tied for the most for a club so far this season across the USL Championship. In the process, goalkeeper Kyle Morton made five saves, matching his highest total since joining City. Last time he needed to stop so many shots, the boys in purple were playing shorthanded in a draw at Birmingham Legion FC on April 3, 2022.

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC forward Enoch Mushagalusa
Louisville City FC forward Enoch Mushagalusa
(EM Dash Photography)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from April 7, 2023


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