Louisville City is on the road for a Sunday afternoon showdown with Bethlehem Steel FC in Philadelphia’s Talen Energy Stadium.
TV: WBKI locally, ESPN+ Streaming
Radio: 840 WHAS locally, iHeartRadio streaming
Bethlehem presents an interesting challenge for LouCity, not just in their contrasting style, but also in their roster makeup. The Bethlehem Steel are the second team for the Philadelphia Union.
“Sometimes it is tougher to scout a 2 team because you don’t quite know who will be in that starting 11 until just before the match so we have to scout for all the possibilities,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said.
Louisville City coaches were watching closely during last night’s Philadelphia Union vs. Portland Timbers matchup to see who was in the 18 and who got on the pitch. That could alter who Louisville City will face Sunday.
LouCity has been in town since Friday and spent a good portion of training Friday and Saturday working on the game plan for Sunday’s match.
“We had a couple of tactical objectives we were trying to mix into our plan for Sunday,” Hackworth said.
Louisville City also worked on finishing around the net, trying to find a goal after last Saturday’s 0-0 draw vs. Saint Louis.
“It’s not like we are doing anything different, we always work on finishing drills in training,” Hackworth said. “The idea that a serve is a pass and I want them to pick out their target. We don’t want just a random ball put into the box, but we want to pick out our target – find your runner and hit his head or his front foot, whatever it is. Whatever we are trying to execute, I want it to be that exactly.”
Sunday’s match starts a busy week for LouCity in which the Boys in Purple will play Sunday in Philadelphia, Wednesday in the Open cup vs. Birmingham Legion at Lynn Stadium in Louisville and Saturday vs. Charleston Battery at Slugger Field.
Sunday’s Official Louisville City Watch Party is at Falls City Taproom. The radio broadcast will originate from the Watch Party and Falls City has the LouCity Golden Ale and the Friend-De-Lis Ale on tap for LouCity fans.
