Having a bye week after the team’s best game of the season is a double-edged sword. On the one side, you get extra time for all those injuries to heal up. On the other, you lose momentum. Hard to say which is more important.
So the Birmingham Legion is off this week ahead of the game against New Mexico United at Dunnavant Valley on Friday, July 24th. That would normally be a big advantage, especially playing on a field they know even better than Protective Stadium, but New Mexico are also off this weekend, having played at Lexington SC on Wednesday.
Best of the rest
New Mexico in fact won 4-1 Wednesday, scoring on all 4 of their shots on target. Also winning Wednesday were The™ Miami FC (2-0 over Indy Eleven) and, for the first time in their history, Sporting JAX, who looked nothing like their prior selves, taking a 2-1 result at home over the defending champions, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
All games this week are on Saturday; here are our picks:
Pittsburgh Riverhounds v. Louisville City (11:00am, CBS)
Either side of their 2-0 USL Cup win over Loudoun United (which put only in 3rd place) the Hounds lost 0-2 to Brooklyn FC and 1-2 to JAX as noted above. Now, on short rest they have a matinée game against Lou City. City have admittedly not been doing great but are at least on an upswing. Note that Lou City are next up on the Legion schedule after New Mexico.
Sporting JAX v. Brooklyn FC (6:00pm, ESPN+)
So the last two teams to beat Pittsburgh face off. JAX are also on short rest of course but did not have to travel and must be feeling fairly good. Brooklyn would jump the Legion in the standings by a point with a win. And JAX are only 5 points adrift of Brooklyn themselves, but have played 2 more games.
Charleston Battery v. Sacramento Republic (6:30pm, ESPN+)
#2 in the East v. #5 in the West. Both teams have been somewhat erratic this season despite relatively strong overall records. SacRep obviously needs the win more than the Battery. Then again, Charleston is only 5 points behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who have finally shown some weaknesses.
Rhode Island FC v. Hartford Athletic (6:30pm, ESPN+)
The northeast’s El Clámico derby game takes on even more importance than usual as the two are straddling the playoff line, with Hartford 3 points up on Rhody (who have a game in hand). Interestingly, over the past two league games, both drew at home with West leaders Orange County. The two also drew 0-0 in the USL Cup, with Rhody winning 4-3 in the shootout. Possibly the game of the week.
Legion in the Lower Leagues
The 2s ended their season on a much-needed positive note, beating Montgomery United 3-2 (at Protective in fact) for a final record of 2-5-5, vaulting them over 3 teams, including Montgomery to finish in a moderately respectable 4th place in the South Central Division.
Dothan United won their regular season finale and so carried Alabama into the League Two playoffs, where they played Brave SC of Florida yesterday at home. However, they lost 0-1.
Back in the Old Country
Birmingham City are back home from Portugal. They beat National League team Solihull Moors 3-0 Wednesday. For the past 4 years this has been a regular preseason fixture and is called the Arthur Cup, named for Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, the 6-year-old Blues fan who died in 2020 as a result of domestic abuse. The goals were an August Priske PK, a Solihull own goal and a Demarai Gray score in open play.
The next preseason game is at Burton Albion on Wednesday at 1:30pm.
Off the pitch defender Kai Wagner is returning to the Philadelphia Union, from whom the Blues bought him just 6 months ago. The move is driven by personal reasons. The transfer fee is expected to be around $4 million and under MLS rules he will be a Designated Player. This is a big loss; also expected out is striker Kyogo Furuhashi, who did not exactly shine in Birmingham and there are rumors that right back Bright Osayi-Samuel wants to go back to Fenerbahce in Turkey.
This is the complete opposite of what Birmingham City Ladies have been doing since being promoted to the WSL. In just the past 2 days they have signed 4 players (Marie Levasseur, Millie Turner, Lisa Naalsund and Jade Rastocle) indicating a clear intent to compete in the English top tier.
Lastly, the game against Barcelona July 31st will be available for viewing in the US on Barcelona’s YouTube channel, but it does appear to be a paid subscription.
