• Phoenix Rising FC Preview

    Match Preview #24: Phoenix Takes a Trip to the Circus

    Mark Murray

    MATCH DETAILS

    Las Vegas Lights FC (7-11-5, 26 pts., 13th in West) vs. Phoenix Rising FC (12-6-5, 41 pts., 3rd in West)

    8:00 p.m. Saturday, Cashman Field, Las Vegas, Nevada

    TV: Cox 4 (SD) and 1004 (HD) in Phoenix, Cox 7 (SD) and 1007 (HD) in Tucson

    Live Stream: ESPN+ (subscription required)

    Radio: Fox Sports 910 AM (English), El Patron 97.3 FM (Spanish)

    MatchCenter: LVLvPHX


    Phoenix takes their first trip to Las Vegas this weekend in preparation for their 2nd meeting of the year with Lights FC.

    Phoenix Rising Last Match: Phoenix dropped a 4-3 result to Orange County SC last Saturday. Solomon Asante scored a second-half hat-trick but it was not enough after OCSC put four past Carl Woszczynski in the first 70 minutes. Phoenix overall did not play all that bad, but just like the Real Monarchs match a couple of weeks ago, OCSC was able to take advantage of a couple of well selected shots and a questionable penalty.  

    Team News: Gladson Awako will be serving the last of his three game suspension and will be eligible to come back on Wednesday to play San Antonio FC. Dougui Mala will also be out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the year. James Musa will be available after serving his yellow card suspension.  

    Earlier this week, Phoenix picked up three MLS players on loan. Saal Abdul-Salaam, a defender, makes his way from New York City FC and could see time on the field tonight. The other two, Shaft Brewer Jr., a winger, and Tristan Blackmon, a defender, make their way from Los Angeles FC. Both came to the team late in the week and their availability for tonight’s match is unknown.

    Second-year midfielder Alessandro Riggi has been ruled out of the rest of the season with an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in last week’s match against Orange County.  This is Riggi’s second significant knee injury in as many years.

    Forward Didier Drogba is back training with team after a leave-of-absence to cover the World Cup for the BBC.  It is unlikely that Drogba will see playing time on the atrocious surface that Las Vegas calls a pitch.  It is much more likely that we will see Drogba in a substitute role on a friendly field against San Antonio.

    Las Vegas Lights Report: Though their record might not be where the fans would like it, you can not say that the Lights have not been….uh….interesting. Las Vegas played just three days ago, dropping a 3-1 result to Orange County SC. Despite scoring the first goal of the match and being up a man for the last 31 minutes, the Lights were unable to contain, Michael Seaton (who also scored a brace against Phoenix a few days prior). The Lights do carry afour-matchh home winning streak into this match, although that streak stretches all the way back to June 2nd as the Lights have played a very travel heavy schedule due to the summer heat. Veteran defender Joel Huiqui will not be available as he serves his second yellow card accumulation suspension of the season, having seen the card 11 times. The Lights have a three-way tie for goals scored with Sammy Ochoa, Carlos Alvarez, and Raul Mendiola all netting 5.

    Last Meeting: Phoenix won the first matchup in the series history 4-0 on June 13th. Goals from Solomon Asante, Joseph Farrell, and two dazzling runs from Jason Johnson secured the win for Phoenix. It took a while for Phoenix to get settled with only a Johnson goal in the first 45 but the second half was all Phoenix in Rick Schantz’s first match in charge after Patrice Carteron left for Egypt.

    The Numbers:

     

    Team Form:

    Las Vegas Lights FC: W-L-W-L-L

    Phoenix Rising FC: L-W-L-W-L

     

    Projected Starting XI:

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