The Chicago Red Stars and the North Carolina Courage meet for the second time in about a month tomorrow after producing a great opening game draw on April 13th, 2019.
The two teams come off what could be considered as disappointing results last week as the Red Stars lost to Utah Royals FC and the Courage drew against Sky Blue FC. Tomorrow's match will be a chance for either side to regain momentum in the league before the World Cup break.
Chicago look to use home field advantage
The Chicago Red Stars only have one win this season which came at home so this match up against the Courage presents a chance for them to pick up another win and keep them close to the playoff positions early on in the season. The Red Stars still have the services of Sam Kerr as she has not departed for international duty yet, however they are without their United States Women's National Team players for the second game in a row as those players have already departed for international duty. Kerr is still a vital piece in the Red Stars' progress this season and alongside Yuki Nagasato, can cause any team difficulties on any given day.
Apart from Kerr and Nagasato, the Red Stars will be without the services of Katie Johnson, who is suspended for two games, and Alyssa Mautz who picked up an ACL injury during training this week. That leaves the Red Stars short of offensive power should they want to bring on someone from their bench to help Kerr and Nagasato later on in the game. The Red Stars could not find the back of the net last week so Kerr and company will be looking to chance that, even if its up against a strong Courage backline.
Debinha, Williams looks to lead the Courage to a third win
The North Carolina Courage would have been as surprised as anyone else with their draw against Sky Blue last week. The departures of Jessica McDonald, Crystal Dunn and Samantha Mewis seemed to have slowed down what usually is a high-octane offense for the Courage. This means that the likes of Lynn Williams, Debinha and McCall Zerboni will have to step up even more to ensure that last week's result does not repeat itself this weekend.
In defense, the Courage are without the services of Abby Dahlkemper and Stephanie Labbé. For most teams, that would be a big blow for their defense but Abby Erceg, Merritt Mathias and Jaelene Hinkle are all still available for North Carolina which means that they should be good enough to keep Kerr and Nagasato quiet if they are locked in for 90 plus minutes. If not, Chicago will make them pay and possibly hand them their first loss of the season.
The match is set to kick off at 6:00pm EST on May 12th, 2019 at SeatGreek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. Viewers can see the game on Yahoo!Sports (U.S. viewers only), NWSLSoccer.com or on the NWSL app.