SeatGeek Stadium | Bridgeview, Illinois – Saturday, September 30 at 8:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Chicago forward Cheyna Matthews scored the game-tying goal against Angel City for her first goal with the Red Stars last time out. With the goal, the Jamaican international became the first player to represent a Caribbean nation to score a goal for the Red Stars in any NWSL competition. Leading the way amongst 11 different goalscorers, though, is forward Ella Stevens, whose four goals on the year (one penalty) have her top the team’s scoring charts.
Racing Louisville is led in its own scoring department by midfielder Savannah DeMelo, who has five goals on the year (two penalties). However, DeMelo has not scored in the regular season since June 18 in a 2-0 home win over Gotham, with the only other player to have scored twice since that date being midfielder Paige Monaghan who scored in back-to-back games on July 1 and July 8 against OL Reign (2-2 draw) and the Kansas City Current (2-1 win).
Match facts: The Chicago Red Stars and Racing Louisville FC face off on Saturday night in the second game of a full six-game slate across the NWSL as the regular season comes to a close in just a few weeks’ time. The Red Stars currently sit bottom of the league table in 12th place with 21 points from 19 games played, while Louisville is just a few spots above in 9th place with 24 points from 19 games played.
The Red Stars are unbeaten in three games (W1 D2) for the first time since late last season. The 19th league game is the latest into a season that Chicago have had their first unbeaten streak of at least three games in club history, with the previous record being 15 games into the 2013 season.
In its last five matches on the road in all competitions, Racing Louisville has just one win (D1 L3, including a loss in the Challenge Cup Final) and one goal. Louisville has never scored as few goals in a five-game road stretch in the club’s brief history. Racing Louisville has allowed 299 shots attempts from its opponents this season, the most in NWSL just ahead of Chicago’s 283 shots faced. However, only 97 of those shots have hit the frame for a 32.4% opposing shooting accuracy, as the Courage (30.8) and Wave (31.6) are the only teams in NWSL with a lower opposing shooting accuracy.
Racing Louisville has shutout wins in all three games in all competitions against Chicago this season, in addition to two other shutouts prior to this season for a total of five against the Red Stars. That is the most times a team has shutout the Red Stars since 2021 when Louisville joined the NWSL.
