Week Ahead Preview

Sat April 12 thru Fri April 18

Image credit: Coach Avila's Instagram

Birmingham Legion FC

I prepared a recap for Southeast Soccer Report that had the misfortune in timing of getting posted just after the news that Tom Soehn was fired as the Birmingham Legion coach (so it didn't mention it). I think most fans would have preferred to see that move between seasons, or just after the loss to Pittsburgh. Through that lens, Legion must rally and come up big against El Paso this weekend.

Eric Avila takes over as the interim coach, and should have more players available this week returning from injuries. I would expect Trejo and Pasher, who popped in late against Pittsburgh, and will be expecting Turnbull and Tregarthen to be available. I would still label Kavita as questionable, and AJ Paterson isn't due back until June or July. Legion will also have Sam McIllhatton available, signed just last week.

El Paso Locomotive will be in town for the CBS Network game this week that kicks off Sunday April 13 at 4:00. Birmingham is still looking for their first win of the season. Two strong showings in draws against Louisville City and Detroit City have been offset by losses to Loudon and Pittsburgh. An important point is that Legion now has a roster size large enough that if everyone is healthy, there are more bodies than what's allowed on the bench for game day. As a result, this is also likely to reveal which GK is the “true” #2 behind Matt van Oekel - with a robust roster size, three bench slots shouldn't be used for goalkeepers.

El Paso is much improved from the team that finished in last place in the West for 2024. They've gotten very good goal production up front, leading all of USLC with 10 goals scored. Legion needs to stop that attack and get a spark on offense (they've scored just 4 goals in 4 matches so far). Legion need this win badly, and they'll need to overcome all of the off-field distractions. They have the pieces, they just need them to come together.

Huntsville City FC

The boys in blue will be away at Crown Legacy Sunday April 13 at 6:00. Huntsville's style is to give more possession to opponents and strike back on the counter. Crown has played more possession in their games, but haven't scored as often as Huntsville. Crown will be looking for their first win of the season. This should be a close match, and I lean towards Huntsville finding the win on the road.

FC Birmingham

This week FCB will be in the Adjacency to take on FC Columbus Elite Saturday April 12 at 2:00. Elite has really struggled in the Premier division, after being very strong in Div 1 last year. They've taken a beating from some of the top teams in the conference, and are sitting on a -20 GD at the bottom of the table. They had two weeks to prepare for Birmingham, and despite the rough start this is one to watch for an upset.

FCB2 has this week off.

UMA FC

UMA FC's first team travels to face Filial Pachuca Sunday April 13 at 4:00. UMA is just above Filial Pachuca in the table, and this could be a trap game. Filial is historically very strong in the league, but have come up short in some close games. UMA's likely advantage is that they've been a little bit more balanced on both sides of the ball.

UMA2 will be on the road to play AFC Lightning Sunday April 13 at 3:00. These teams were also scheduled against each other last week, but the game was postponed due to weather. AFC does have two wins this season, but one of those was a 2-1 victory over Limeno 3. They'll take the three points there, but the expectation should have been for Lightning to dominate. Look for an UMA2 win here.

The Adjacency

Fountain City FC hosts Soccer Saves Lives Sat April 12 at 6:00. Fountain is coming off a 1-1 draw against FC Birmingham last week on a last minute goal. It was the kind of the result that sometimes kickstarts momentum. SSL has been hard to figure out so far this season. They're lower than Fountain in the table, but also managed a draw against Filial Pachuca. This is the kind of match that could easily be high-scoring, and a coin toss for who comes out on top.

As mentioned above, FC Columbus Elite faces FC Birmingham Saturday April 12 at 2:00, at home.

Columbus Knight Eagles will be at home against FC Atlanta Sunday April 13 at 5:00. The Eagles come into this match well rested, after last week's match was postponed. CKE are first place in the table and will be favored in this game, but shouldn't expect it to be an easy time. Atlanta has been very good on defense so far this season, and have two quality wins. CKE's Abubakar Tahiru already has five goals this season, and they'll be counting on him to strike early.