Rhode Island FC are back home at Tidewater on Saturday as they take on Birmingham Legion on Star Wars night.  It’ll be the sixth meeting all-time between the two teams, with RIFC winning four and drawing one of the previous five matchups with an aggregate score of 8-2.  So will this be another walk in the park or will Birmingham be tougher this time around?  Let’s take a look at both teams to get a better idea of what to expect:

Last Time Out

It was matchday one for the Prinx Tires USL Cup last weekend.  RIFC drew at rivals Hartford Athletic 0-0 but won the penalty shootout 4-3 to gain the vital extra point.  If there’s anything to take away from this one, it’s that it further proved RIFC have an established best 11.

Khano Smith chose to make six changes last weekend having played a game a few days earlier.  I wasn’t particularly impressed by any of the six players who came in and RIFC started clicking immediately when their more established starters entered the game in the second half.  Hopefully the team can get more from their bench players as the season moves along but the starting 11 looks solidified and very good.

Players to Watch

• Frank Nodarse (DF)
  • Yes, I find every opportunity I can to talk about Frank.  But I’m bringing him up here because he is the only regular starter to not see the field against Hartford last weekend.  He should return to his new right back role Saturday night and he’ll need to be at his best against some strong Birmingham attackers
• Zachary Herivaux (MF)
  • I’m really interested to see what Zach’s role will be moving forward.  The partnership of Hugo and Clay has been very good and it’ll be hard for Zach to displace either of them from the starting 11.  But he is fit now after going down in the season opener and I can see Khano giving him more minutes
• Pity Rodriguez (MF)
  • Pity’s performances have gotten better recently and he looks closer to really breaking out.  He has two assists in his last four games and if he can keep putting up numbers, RIFC’s attack will become even more lethal

Key to the Game

Press Effectively

As long as RIFC are managed by Khano Smith, they will try to play out from the back and attempt to break opponents down through maintaining possession.  But when they don’t have the ball, especially against opponents who want to play a similar possession style, RIFC have shown an ability to have an effective press that helps create chances.  They’ll need to do that here against a Birmingham Legion team that as we’ll soon see are likely to have more of the ball. 

Last Time Out

Birmingham come into this one having also drawn their USL Cup opener 0-0 last weekend.  They ended up losing their shootout with San Antonio 3-1, however.  I don’t think there’s much to take away from that one other than a great performance from a player I’ll soon be highlighting.

In the bigger picture, Birmingham have only won once all season in 7 games in all competitions (6 league, 1 USL Cup).  The win was a 1-0 over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds a few weeks ago.  Outside of that, they’ve drawn 3 and lost 2 in the league to go along with their PK loss in the cup last time out.  It’s a slow start for a team that just missed the playoffs in 2024 and finished dead last in the Eastern Conference in 2025.

Players to Watch

• Jassem Koleilat (GK)
  • Koleilat had a great performance against San Antonio last weekend and is the biggest reason Birmingham were able to get a point.  He’s had an interesting career path, playing in French and Czech academies before playing collegiately in the US and moving to Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League.  He won the golden glove in the CPL in 2025 and moved to Birmingham ahead of this season.  With RIFC having the most shots on target per match in the league, Koleilat will need to be at his best on Saturday
• Ramiz Hamouda (DF)
  • The 17 year old center back has become a staple in Birmingham’s back line.  He signed his first professional contract with the Legion in 2024 a couple months shy of his 16th birthday after being linked with a move to Germany.  He’s still developing, but he’s one of the best players on his team
• Gevork Diarbian (FW)
  • A Rhode Island native and former Revolution II player, Diarbian has quickly become one of the most exciting wingers in the Championship in his first season.  When I mentioned earlier that Frank Nodarse was going to be important in this game, Diarbian is why.  They will likely be matched up on Saturday night and it’s the key battle to look out for

Key to the Game

Possession With Purpose

Birmingham lead the league in accurate passes per game and are 6th in average possession.  But they’re 18th in big chances and 21st in shots on target per match.  I’ve had my gripes with big chances as a statistic because I feel it’s very subjective.  But if you also aren’t getting shots on target, it’s not a good sign.  Birmingham have enough good attacking players to where they should be creating more chances and getting more goals.  They’ll need to use their possession more effectively in order to have a shot at coming away with points on Saturday.

Analysis and Prediction

Given everything we now know about both teams, I think it’s pretty clear how this one will likely go.  Birmingham will probably have more of the ball and RIFC will try to be disruptive.  I don’t expect Birmingham to go long too often, as they have the lowest accurate long balls per match in the league.  So I think this game will come down to RIFC winning the ball back in midfield.  They’re one of the best teams in the league at winning possession in the middle third, led by Clay Holstad.  If RIFC can continue to win in that area of the field, they’ll have a great chance of coming away with all 3 points.

Final Thoughts

It should be a great night at Tidewater.  I can’t wait to be back cheering on the team in person.  And it’s even better that it’s Star Wars night.  A lot of theme nights aren’t really for me (I’m thinking of that one that had something to do with eras).  But Star Wars is legit.  And theme nights in general are a good thing to bring in people who wouldn’t normally attend. 

As for the actual game, I’ll be back here Saturday night to give my takeaways.  As always, the pod will be back Sunday night and Timmy will provide us with his player ratings.  Until then, UP THE TIDE!