RIFC are back at it this week for a late Saturday afternoon matchup with Loudoun United. After a disappointing draw in Phoenix (all things considered), the team is still in search of their first win of the new season. Meanwhile, Loudoun United have gotten off to a good start this season, winning their first two matches before losing 2-0 at Louisville City last time out. Saturday’s match will be the home opener for Loudoun, which could bring some extra juice to the game and make it a little bit trickier to navigate for RIFC. Here’s what to watch out for from both sides.

RIFC head into this one off of an improved performance in their 2nd match of the season. The performance still wasn’t enough to get the 3 points though, which left many fans (including myself) frustrated. It was a winnable game and it’s hard not to think at least one of the goals the team conceded was avoidable. That being said, the attack and midfield improved and we saw a positive partnership up top of Albert Dikwa and JJ Williams. Because of that success, this is how I see the lineup shaking out:

This is the eleven Khano Smith ended up going with last week and I don’t see a reason to change it. With Jackson Lee injured and no depth at CB, the goalkeeper and back line pretty much pick themselves. I will note that interestingly, Stoneman and Nodarse switched positions against Phoenix. Stoneman always played on the right last season, so it remains to be seen if that decision last week was based on our opponent or if it will be a permanent change.

As for the midfield, I’ve had Zach Herivaux in the lineup in my previous two blogs. However, he’s been carrying a knock to start the season and it isn’t certain that he would be ready to start here. Therefore, as much as I’ve been in favor of moving Clay Holstad around, I think he settles in to the midfield 3 here. Maxi Rodriguez is an obvious choice to join him, but Taimu Okiyoshi has been the real surprise to start the year. He’s a player that was walking into a pretty crowded midfield as a rookie but he’s impressed Khano and I think he really improved from game 1 to game 2.

Lastly, with Jojea Kwizera possibly still out due to international duty, I think Noah Fuson slots in on the right. This allows Dikwa and Williams to continue their partnership up top which worked out pretty well last weekend. Aldair Sanchez keeps his spot at LWB, where he was my man of the match against Phoenix. His service was incredible and hopefully he continues to put in dangerous crosses for JJ Williams to get on the end of.

I think the key for RIFC in this game is to be more alert inside their own penalty area. The team has conceded 4 goals this season, 3 of which I think were avoidable. Both goals for Charleston came from excellent corners from Juan David Torres, but on both occasions, the back line was not aggressive enough in clearing the ball away. The same happened on the 2nd goal for Phoenix Rising last Saturday, where Koke made a good save but spilled the ball into a dangerous area. Phoenix were the first to react and got their equalizer.

I have a lot of faith in the RIFC attack, as there’s a lot of talent that Khano can put out on the field. I think if the team can be stronger defensively and continue to find a good balance in midfield, they can really unleash the potential of the attack and put forth a performance worthy of 3 points.

As I mentioned at the top, Loudoun United have started the season well. They won their first two matches, 3-1 over Birmingham and 2-1 over North Carolina. A 2-0 loss at Louisville shouldn’t be too much to worry about, with Lou City being one of the best teams in the league.

Obviously it’s really early, but so far the team is looking better in attack than last season, where they were right in the middle of the pack at 13th in goals scored. This seems less due to personnel changes and more due to a shift in formation. Loudoun have moved to 4 at the back this season, which frees up an extra spot going forward. This may be due to injuries, as the team is struggling with CB depth. So as players come back, it’ll be interesting to see if manager Ryan Martin sticks with the current setup.

On the other end of things, Loudoun were a tough defensive team last season. They ended the season tied with Phoenix Rising for the 5th fewest goals conceded. This certainly played out in the two matchups with RIFC, where both ended in 0-0 draws. With 4 goals conceded through their first 3 games, Loudoun are on pace to concede 40 goals this season. While that’s basically the same as their 39 goals last season, it would come in 4 fewer games this year. Understandably, they’ve only played 3 games so it really isn’t fair to extrapolate those numbers out to a full season. But it’s all we have to work with so far.

As for players to watch out for, Loudoun are a pretty solid team from back to front. But here’s who I will be paying attention to:

• Hugo Fauroux (GK)
  • Experienced goalkeeper in his 4th season in the USL Championship (3rd with Loudoun)
• Kwame Awuah (LB)
  • Tied for 2nd on the team in assists last season. Solid both defensively and in joining the attack
• Abdellatif Aboukoura (Winger)
  • Exciting 20 year old left sided attacker. Leads the team with 3 goal contributions so far this season (2 goals and 1 assist). Could be a breakout season this year
• Florian Valot (FW)
  • Creative attacking player who led the team in assists last year and has 2 to start this season
• Zach Ryan (FW)
  • Led the team in goals last season and should benefit from great service from Aboukoura and Valot

If you couldn’t tell, I’m most excited about Aboukoura (and also scared as we head into Saturday). He only started 13 games last season but has started all 3 so far this year. I really think he could be regarded as one of the best attacking players in the league by the end of the season. I think he’ll be the key player for Loudoun in this one and moving forward. If they can regain a little bit of defensive stability, I think Loudoun have the attacking power to cause a lot of problems for RIFC and possibly get a good result.

I think this will be a close game and we should see some goals. Nothing so far early on in this season indicates a 0-0 draw like we saw between these two teams in both meetings last year. I see the big deciding factor here being a better defensive performance from RIFC. Do I have anything to base that on? Not really. And Loudoun United have a sneaky good attack this year. But I have to keep the faith in our guys. That’s why I’m going with a 2-1 win for RIFC. The team improved from their first game to their second, and I’m anticipating seeing further improvement on Saturday.

I will be at The Guild for the 4pm kickoff on Saturday and hope to see you all there. Hopefully we can all celebrate our first 3 points of the season. But at the very least, it should be an exciting game (really trying not to jinx us for another 0-0). No matter what happens though, it’s always great getting together and watching our team with fellow fans and friends. Until then, UP THE TIDE!