This Wednesday, Louisville City will take on first place Indy Eleven in the second Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest of 2020. Unlike round one, City is entering this match confident. Coming off two big wins against Loudoun United and Sporting Kansas City 2, Lou City can make a real statement with a rivalry win. Indy, on the other hand, will be looking to keep themselves comfortably in first. With the season half over, every point matters. Expect to see heavy aggression from both sides as they look to secure the three points.
Indy has put the Eastern Conference on notice with their attacking successes this season. They are tied for ninth in the league with 15 goals and sixth on shots with 126. Much of this fire power has come from the Canadian Tyler Pasher. He is second in the league with eight goals, third on shots with 31, and an impressive player rating of 7.60. Expect to see his fellow attackers Andrew Carleton and Ilija Ilic providing him service. Louisville started slowly but have recently began to find their offensive prowess. City started their climb up the goals chart to 17th with 11 goals and fourth on shots with 130. While the conversion rate overall is still not great, we’ve seen improvements over the last two matches. Cameron Lancaster has been most of the attack, racking up five goals (sixth in the league), 34 shots (first), and a fantastic player rating of 7.42. Napo Matsoso (player rating 7.28) playing in the winger role has recently also helped to make the Lou City attack even more dangerous. Expect to see him back up top in this LIPAFC match up.
Defensively, the two sides are fairly comparable. Three clean sheets a piece and eight conceded goals to Indy’s seven. With the amount of firepower both teams have, this match could be decided on how well these defensive units are able to stay organized and shut down threats. The last clash between these two ended in a 1-1 draw with the only Indy goal coming from a single error that allowed Pasher to bury one in the back of the net. It will be imperative that City lock him down. Indy will have their work cut out for them not only trying to shut down the ever-dangerous Cam but also the red hot Napo. Will John Hackworth trot our recently successful starting eleven or will he make any creative changes to help unravel the Indy “D”? He has some tough decisions on his hands.
FiveThirtyEight essentially has this one as too close to call. They have given the bad guys a 36% chance to win and the purple team a 35% chance. Neither side will be content with a draw. They will be hungry for a dominate win. Louisville City has put themselves in a much better position, however, it will still be a close fight to secure a playoff spot. Indy will have their heartbreaking loss from last season’s playoffs still in mind as they will look to spoil the weekday party at Lynn Family Stadium. Lou City’s result here will set the tone for the last half of the season. After finally shaking off that rough start, it's time for them to prove that they are playoff worthy.
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