After a 1-0 win over Detroit City FC Wednesday night at Centreville Bank Stadium, RIFC are back at it this weekend. This time, it’s a Saturday night matchup with fellow Eastern Conference side Loudoun United. The teams last met very early in the season on March 29th. Loudoun got the 2-0 win in what was a very poor performance from RIFC. At the time, we were all hoping it was just an early season low point and that the boys in amber and blue would bounce right back. As we know, that hasn’t been the case. But heading into this one, both teams really need a result. Here’s what to look out for on Saturday.

The win over Detroit City FC brought some good vibes amidst an increasingly frustrating season so far. It put RIFC right at the playoff line at 8th in the Eastern Conference and there were some promising things to take away from the game. For more on that, you can check out my Riptide Report or Timmy’s Player Ratings.

The reality is though, this team has a lot more work to do if they want to fully convince me that they’ve turned things around. And that starts with this game Saturday night. They need to improve on the performance from Wednesday and will have every opportunity to do so with some important players returning and some new ones being added to the squad. JJ Williams will return from suspension and Zach Herivaux returned from injury Wednesday night. Add in new additions Matthew Corcoran (who looked solid against Detroit) and Dwayne Atkinson (who has finally been announced after some visa issues held up his signing), and the team has a fresh injection of players that could shake things up in the right way.

LINEUP

• Goalkeeper
  • It was great to see Koke back in goal on Wednesday and he certainly keeps his spot here. As Khano Smith would say after the game, it’s nothing against Jackson Lee, who is a starter in this league. But the team needed Koke’s leadership out there. He also made some fantastic saves and without him, there is a good chance this team doesn’t get the 3 points against Detroit
• Defense
  • I’m stealing Ryan’s formation that he put forth in the podcast Thursday night. But what can I say, great minds think alike. Aldair is a natural left back and slots in perfectly here. The pairing of Mabika and Yao has started to really jell of late. And Hugo Bacharach gets a new position at RB. Hugo was great defensively last time out and has showed numerous times that he can break lines and get the ball into good attacking areas
• Midfield
  • New loan signing Matthew Corcoran slots into the 6 role, where he looked really comfortable in his first appearance in amber and blue. Clay and Maxi start just in front of him. It’s a tough call to leave Amos out, but this team has a lot of midfielders and only so many spots
• Attack
  • Jojea Kwizera has looked much better these last few games and gets the start on the left. JJ Williams returns from his red card suspension and goes right back into the starting 11 to lead the line. The interesting choice here is Dwayne Atkinson starting on the right. It’s a bold choice, but given that Khano has often thrown new players right into the 11, I wouldn’t be that surprised to see him there. The option is always there to start Noah instead and bring Dwayne off the bench, but we shall see. These lineup predictions/hopes are all just a fun exercise at the end of the day

KEY TO THE GAME

The key here for RIFC is just to keep the momentum going. One win over a floundering Detroit City FC side doesn’t mean the team is all of a sudden going to go on a run. They need to take things one game at a time. The way to keep that momentum going is to build on some of the possession based play that we saw Wednesday night and crucially, make sure it leads to chances. With some better attacking players on the field, the team has every chance to do so.

Loudoun come into this game in a similar, though not as bad, situation as Detroit City. They started off the season really well and still sit in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference. But Loudoun’s last win in the league came on June 14th when they beat Detroit 3-2. Since then, they’ve lost 4 and drawn 2 in the league and their two cup games during that time both ended in draws, with one win and one loss on penalties.

A big part of Loudoun’s issues recently is their defense. They’ve conceded 14 goals over their last 6 league games. That’s helped bring them down to 19th in the league in goals conceded per game this season. Compare that to 2024 where they were tied for 5th fewest goals conceded, and you can see a major drop off. The hallmark of this team last year was that they were organized and tough to play against but didn’t have the offensive firepower to compete. The attack has improved this year, largely due to one of my favorite players in the league (who I will be mentioning shortly). But at the moment, the improvement in their offensive output has been outweighed by their regression defensively.

PLAYER TO WATCH

I normally list a few players to look out for, but seeing as I did that in the Prematch Lookout when these teams first met, I’m going to take this opportunity to opine on one of my favorite non-RIFC players: Abdellatif Aboukoura. The 20 year old attacker has lit up the league this year with 11 goals and 1 assist in the USL Championship this season (14 goals and 2 assists in all comps). It was clear to me last season that he had the ability and just needed to mature and get consistent game time. He has gotten that this season and is looking like a first team all-league player. Aboukoura missed some time recently with an injury, but unfortunately for us, he returned last time out against FC Tulsa and played 78 minutes. Loudoun will be hoping his return will help them turn around their poor form of late.

KEY TO THE GAME

Aside from getting Aboukoura going in his second game back, Loudoun need to improve defensively. They’re playing an RIFC team that has struggled to score all year, so it shouldn’t be a monumental task. But if they can limit chances, Loudoun will have a really good chance of getting 3 points. I think it’ll be difficult for RIFC to keep a clean sheet.

Even after the midweek win, I’m having a hard time picking RIFC to get 3 points. I think this one ends in a draw. Aboukoura will almost certainly be involved in a Loudoun goal (he scored both against us in their 2-0 win back in March). JJ Williams is my pick to get the goal for RIFC and I can see us leaving Tidwater with some mixed feelings. The performance from our boys in amber and blue will be a slight improvement from Wednesday, but not enough to get the 3 points or to convince us that the team is going on a run.

UP NEXT

I end every blog this way, but just in case there’s any new readers out there, I will be back with the Riptide Report following the game to give my quick thoughts. The podcast will be there for you Sunday night and somewhere in that time, Timmy will have his Player Ratings. We here at Tide Talk always appreciate anyone who checks out any of our content. It makes us feel better about being helplessly devoted to/obsessed with this team. As always, UP THE TIDE!