Match Preview: Racing Louisville FC vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC
Lynn Family Stadium | Louisville, Kentucky – Friday, July 8 at 8:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Racing Louisville midfielder Savannah DeMelo has proven herself lethal from direct free kicks, with both of her goals on the year coming from dead ball situations. The last time an NWSL player scored two direct free-kick goals in a season was in 2016, when both Kristen Edmonds of the Pride and Yael Averbuch of FC Kansas City did so.
Gotham FC midfielder McCall Zerboni led her team with two fouls committed against the Red Stars on Saturday and leads her team this season with 19 fouls while no other Gotham player has committed double-digit fouls. Since 2016, Zerboni has committed 213 fouls in regular and postseason play, which is 48 more than any other NWSL player in that span (next-most is Lindsay Horan with 165).
Match facts: Racing Louisville FC returns home on Friday night as they play host to NJ/NY Gotham FC at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville.
Racing drew 2-2 with Orlando in their last time out at iconic Daytona International Speedway last Sunday to earn another point on the year. However, despite scoring six total goals in its last three games, Louisville has collected just two points (D2 L1). It is the most goals Louisville has scored in a three-game span in its NWSL regular season history and the first time since Sky Blue in 2017 that an NWSL team scored six or more goals in a three-game span without winning at least one match.
Meanwhile, Gotham is still winless in over a month of action and has already lost to Racing once this season. The club has suffered a shutout loss in each of its last three matches, allowing seven goals in that span. The only other time Gotham FC have been shut out and lost three straight regular season games was in July of 2019.
Racing Louisville is unbeaten in five games against Gotham FC (W1 D4, all competitions) with the win coming in the last match between the teams in May. The only other team Racing Louisville has never lost to in all competitions is the San Diego Wave, a team Racing has only played once.
