Extended weather delay, early kickoff Education Day game. The 2026 Legion season is off to a crazy start. The Three Sparks get a rest this weekend though, which means you can sit back and check out what’s going on around the rest of the USL Championship. The Birmingham City game over in England won’t be televised here in the US either so you can do the same with the EFL Championship if you are so inclined.
Best of the rest
The Three Sparks and Hartford Athletic may already have two games under their belts but there are still 5 teams whose seasons have yet to start (one game was postponed due to weather). Those are Detroit City, Loudoun United, The™ Miami FC, Rhode Island FC and New Mexico United. With 4 of those teams being in the East the Legion’s current 6th position stands a pretty good chance of getting ripped out of their hands. Also note that the Legion’s next opponent, the Charleston Battery, have the weekend off as well so there’s no scouting to be done. Our selections for the weekend (all games are Saturday):
Detroit City FC v. Brooklyn FC (3:00pm, ESPN+)
Brooklyn started its Championship existence in decent form last week, beating an admittedly poor Indy Eleven side 1-0 at home in the abominable Maimonides Park. They have a tougher assignment to follow that up, on the road at an as yet untested but likely strong Detroit side. This has the makings of an entertaining matchup.
Rhode Island FC v. Sporting JAX (3:00pm, ESPN+)
Rhody’s weather-delayed season gets its start and it should be a relatively easy one. Sporting JAX weren’t as bad as the 0-3 scoreline against the other New England team (Hartford) suggests, so the home team needs to be careful. Even so, they should be the favorite and have a very good chance of being the team to knock the Legion down a few spots.
Lexington SC v. Sacramento Republic (6:00pm, CBS Sports Golazo)
Lexington played Louisville City close last Friday night but eventually lost 1-2. SacRep ran riot over last year’s runners-up, FC Tulsa, winning 2-0. These are two good teams in the West that should be competing for playoff spots in the long run. Expect a very competitive game in this one.
Monterey Bay FC v. El Paso Locomotive (9:00pm, ESPN+)
Monterey Bay lost last week, 0-1 to the Oakland Roots. El Paso drew 2-2 with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks; nothing new there. This one is really only interesting in that it could see the Championship debut of former US international and Northern California native Sebastian Lletget, who was released by MLS’ FC Dallas at the end of last season. He may also be making an investment in the club, although that is not yet verified.
Back in the Old Country
Birmingham City had another mixed week, losing 0-1 to Charlton Athletic and beating Queen’s Park Rangers 1-0. The results leave the Blues in 10th place, 5 points adrift of Wrexham in the final playoff spot. A better finish than that (i.e., 6th) is unlikely at this point as the team is 11 points behind Hull City in 5th. Worse, Wrexham have a game in hand. All is not lost just yet; the Blues play Wrexham yet this season and also Derby County, one of the teams between the two. It is looking like a very steep hill to climb though.
Tomorrow at 10am they play Sheffield United at home. United have slowly climbed up the table from a disastrous start and are currently 13th, so they should not be overlooked. United will however be without midfielder Gustavo Hamer due to yellow card suspension; head coach Chris Wilder considers him the team’s best player.
