Week 20 Preview: all you need to know

Well, Wednesday didn’t exactly go well, did it? Worse, tomorrow’s assignment is hardly an easy one.

The most important part

So the Legion will be playing its third game (Saturday, 8:00pm, ESPN+ in eight days, and has to cross a good chunk of the country to do it with the airlines in total chaos, thanks to Microsoft (they can blame it on CrowdStrike as much as they want; MS sucks). The opponent, New Mexico United, is not only at home, they are playing on 10 days’ rest (their last game was a 1-3 loss to LAFC in the Open Cup). Even more, they are top of the West, 5 points clear of the second-place team (Oakland Roots) with – get this – four games in hand. They have games in hand over the entire league, in fact. New Mexico has also won all 7 home games so far this season (two less than the record streak) and won their last 3 home games last season for a 10-game home winning streak. And they regularly play with over 10,000 in attendance; last week against Orange County it was over 12,000. And their home field is a baseball park (Isotopes Park), although it generally looks to be wider and in better condition than everyone’s least favorite venue, AutoZone Park in Memphis.

Yeah, this could be very hard indeed. However, New Mexico is not a particularly high-scoring team, with just 23 goals this season and a goal difference of just 3. Both of those are better than the Legion, of course, but not great numbers. Even so, 12 of the goals have been scored in the 7 home games (they’ve played 9 away) and they have allowed just 4 goals at home. It’s an imposing place to visit.

Leading scorer for New Mexico is Greg Hurst, currently with 7 goals to his credit. The Scottish striker has been with New Mexico since last season, having previously been at Phoenix Rising, Union Omaha, Chattanooga Red Wolves and various teams team in the Scottish league system before that. At 27 he seems to have finally found his stride (he was New Mexico’s scorer against LAFC, by the way). He plays at the head of a traditional 4-2-3-1 formation, backed up by a rotating group of attacking midfielders that make the team rather difficult to predict. 

The defense is similarly fluid and does not include any really well-known names but they are obviously hard to penetrate, About the only truly stable fixture on the team is goalkeeper Alex Tambakis, who has been the #1 netminder since 2021 and whose name may be familiar to older Atlanta United followers from his brief stint with the club back in 2017.

The good news is that the Legion have won both previous games against New Mexico and have not allowed a goal, winning 2-0 away in 2022 and 1-0 at home in 2023. History is thus on the Three Sparks’ side, but it may be the only advantage they have.

Prediction: As much as I hate to say it, I can’t see New Mexico not winning this one. The Legion may have been giving some legs a rest on Wednesday, but I don’t think it will help much. United may well be the best team in the league right now and have a lot of other factors going for them.

Best of the rest

There are three days of USL action this weekend, starting tonight. However, the slate of games is not overly interesting; we’ve only picked out two to watch. One is tonight and the other is early enough tomorrow that with the Legion game being fairly late Saturday, you can watch it as an appetizer:

North Carolina v. Detroit City (Friday, 6:30pm, ESPN+)

A lot to play for in this one. Detroit is 6th in the East, tied on points with the Legion, and North Carolina is hovering just below the playoff line. A win would tie them on points with Rhode Island, who are idle this weekend. It would also (I think) give them the tiebreaker edge. Obviously, Legion fans should be rooting for North Carolina in this one.

Indy Eleven v. Tampa Bay Rowdies (Saturday, 6:00pm, ESPN+)

This one is #4 v. #3 in the East and they are separated by just a point. Needless to say, both will be up for it and it should be a doozy.

Back in the Old Country

First off, the really good news: CBS announced early today that it has picked up the English Football League for the 2024-25 season. Since the CBS family of channels is already airing USL games, you will not need to hand over any additional cash to watch a fair number of Birmingham City games this season. In fact, the Blues’ season opener against Reading (August 10, 11:30am) will air on Paramount+. Not too surprisingly, the Wrexham opener against Wycombe Wanderers will also air, at the same time.

This adds a whole new slate of games to CBS’ rapidly expanding soccer coverage. In addition to the USL and EFL, CBS also has rights to a slew of other leagues worldwide including various UEFA competitions, CONCACAF national team competitions, NWSL, Serie A, the Scottish Premier League and others. ESPN’s strangehold is loosening.

Birmingham City returned home from its rather disappointing trip to Austria and this past Wednesday beat close neighbors Solihull Moors of the National League 3-0. This was the third annual playing of this match, called the Arthur Cup in memory of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, a 6-year-old local boy killed by his parents during COVID and benefitting the UK’s NSPCC and other charities. You can watch highlights here. The two previous games were both 1-0, each side taking one victory. The Blues continue their preseason schedule tomorrow at Shrewsbury, also of League One (9:00am). After that they step it up Wednesday as they take on Glasgow Rangers (1:30pm). There are no TV details for either game right now, although they may be available on the team’s YouTube channel; we’ll let you know as we get details.