Taylor Hamblin usually does these kind of things, but I’m gonna give it a go this afternoon. Louisville City’s next opponent are the mighty Bethlehem Steel. You’ll recall early in the season City traveled up to Lehigh Valley, PA and got a scoreless draw against the Steel. Would’ve been nice to have gotten a couple extra points out of that one, eh?

From a macro perspective, the New Steel have scored 28 goals and shipped 33. Not great! 95 of their 233 shots were on target this season. They’ve picked up 41 yellow cards, which seems like a LOT but it isn’t really. 29 players have seen time for the Steel this season, several of whom the USL doesn’t have squad numbers for. Also of note is the fact that the Steel haven’t actually won a match since July 14, and have only won on the road twice all season. Their away record is 2-6-4. The Steel average about a goal per away game, and concede nearly two. They’ve given up 21 road goals all season.

Next, let’s talk players. USL’s stats are mostly garbage, but they do keep track of minutes played so we know who coach Brendan Burke might use tomorrow night. Ryan Richter is the team’s leading goal scorer with five goals on the season. He the team in minutes by a fair margin. The best part is, he’s a defender! Well oiled machine, that Steel offense. James Chambers leads the team in shots and has just one goal to show for it. Cory Burke has four goals but has only played in sixteen games. Their keeper, Samir Badr, has surrendered eight goals in his past three matches, and his save percentage is well below 70.

If there was ever a team to try and get well against, it’s probably the Steel. Get your shit together, City, and send these guys back to that miserable rusting hulk of an abandoned smokestack these guys call home.