WHO:

Richmond Kickers, 3 points, 1-0-1 Eastern Conference

WHAT:

An Eastern Conference USL game

WHEN:

Saturday, April 8, 2017, 5:00 p.m. Why not 7? Because I have a feeling they don’t have lights at Richmond’s City Stadium. Very Cubs-y.

WHERE:

The aforementioned Richmond City Stadium, 3201 Maplewood Ave, Richmond, VA 23221

WATCH:

The club is having a watch party at Molly Malone’s on Baxter Avenue, so we highly recommend you go there tomorrow evening! If you can’t make it because you’re still cruising the 30A in front of the Destin Holiday Inn, well, we can’t blame you, but you can catch the game on TV on WBNA-21 in Louisville, over the airwaves on 840 WHAS, or via the old YouTubes by following this here link.

WHO, AGAIN?

Taylor Hamblin’s match preview breaks down the keys to the game, so I won’t rehash that here. Richo might be a terrible place to visit, but their soccer team is pretty good. While Louisville City has Cincinnati’d some of the Kickers’ better players the last few years (Davis IV and Ownby), Richmond has managed to replace some of its missing parts with some decent players like Fred Owusu Seykere and Maxim Tissot. Mike Callahan, notably, has retired to teach his dark arts to younger Kickers from the assistant coach’s bench.

That said, the new-look Kickers haven’t quite gelled as well as manager Leigh Cowlishaw would like. While Richmond won their home opener against Harrisburg City Islanders, they didn’t look particularly good doing it. The City Islanders dominated possession, shots and duels in that match, and were unlucky not to score. That theme was repeated almost verbatim last week against New York Red Bulls II in Montclair. Heat maps from both games probably keep Conor Shanosky awake at night, as the Kickers’ half of the field is bright red in all the wrong places.

Long story short, Richmond is a team that Louisville City can beat away if both teams’ form holds. Just need to be careful on set pieces.

COME ON, CITY!