TITLE: July 4th Begins Stretch of Must-Wins For LouCity
Despite having not lost a game since April 2, and winning 9 of 14 Louisville City FC find themselves just four points ahead in the Eastern Conference whilst playing two more games than the two teams directly below them. Those clubs are enjoying similar success
with unbeaten streaks of eight and ten respectively, and have now put pressure on Louisville to get more than just results in their next several matches.
When FC Montreal visits Slugger Field on Monday in front of what will likely be another large crowd to celebrate Independence Day, Louisville will begin a series of matches that are more than winnable. Out of their next seven matches, five are against teams either mid-table or worse. Taking all 15 points out of those five games may be necessary if Louisville City is going to finish the season atop the USL.
In terms of points per game, New York currently holds that spot in the East with 2.2, followed by Louisville City with 2.18. The Red Bulls II are on an eight-game unbeaten streak, with six of those being wins and FC Cincinnati is on a 10-game unbeaten streak.
Impressive as those two streaks are, Louisville is yet to lose in 14 and should be able to extend it to 15 with no problem on Monday against FC Montreal. And of all the teams Louisville has to play this season, Montreal is one of them.
Forget how a struggling FCM team came into Slugger and handed a depleted Louisville team on short rest their worst beating to date. LouCity has more depth this year, and FC Montreal is inexplicately worse. Scoring less than one goal a game on average, Montreal's 12 goals are the lowest of any team in the USL.
Montreal Impact's USL club is not the worst club defensively, only giving up as many goals as seventh place Orlando and only allowing three goals in a match just once. With that said, the amount of clean sheets would be a number south of one.
Anything short of three points would be a failure on the part of Louisville City, a team that is vying for a regular season title.
The remaining four games that should result in a total of 12 points for the boys in purple are as follows:
7/17 at Wilmington
7/30 vs Orlando City B
8/5 at Pittsburgh
8/10 vs Harrisburg
All four opponents Louisville City has played once already this season, two they defeated (Harrisburg and Orlando) and two were draws that should have resulted in wins.
Last season Louisville was always playing catchup with a Rochester side that was destined to win the double. This 2016 team is championship worthy, but the title could slip out of their reach if they continue to drop points against lesser competition.
