USL Championship & Canadian Premier League preview, April 13-14

The second-tier USL Championship weekend looks a little light this week, with just nine games thanks to two fixtures being moved to midweek. They resulted in wins for Charleston Battery over Louisville City in prime-time on CBS, and for Tampa Bay Rowdies away at The Miami FC, lighting the touch paper at the top of the Eastern Conference, although the unbeaten Detroit City have a week off and will have to keep their powder dry for next week's match with Oakland Roots. The USL-C weekend kicks off at 9pm (BST) in Leesburg, Virginia, where Loudoun United face a Memphis 901 side yet to get into any kind of rhythm this season. The home are packed with exciting young talent, with Zach Ryan and Kalil ElMedkhar always lively and dangerous up front, and on paper it looks like a solid home win. Next up is Indy Eleven versus Charleston Battery at midnight, with the visitors having gone top of the Eastern Conference by beating the previously imperious Louisville City on Tuesday night. Indy have brought in a clutch of new players up front but it's yet to have any concrete effect and they should be very wary of a Battery side that look like they're just getting started.

Rhode Island FC have made a cautious start to existence at Beirne Stadium, their home in suburban Providence and will be looking at the 2024 record of visitors Pittsburgh Riverhounds with some confusion ahead of their 0.30am kick-off on Saturday. The Riverhounds have not coped well at all with the loss of five key players over the winter and with two of those - 2023 MVP Albert Dikwa and midfielder Marc Ybarra - having joined the expansion side, it's sure to be spirited affair in New England. 2022 champions San Antonio FC have started the season well but were beaten at a revitalised Las Vegas Lights last week. This week they welcome high-lfying Orange County SC to Toyota Field at 1.30am for a clash of two sides that you would expect will be among the top four in the Western Conference come season's end. Unfortunately, with the Texans wearing a black and grey striped home shirt, it's unlikely we'll get to see OC's amazing black strip this week...

All the USL games are shown live on YouTube but it's unlikely that the viewing figures for the visit of Oakland Roots to El Paso Locomotive will trouble the view-counter too much, given the home side's dreadful record at their Southwest University Park stadium, even against an Oakland team that have scored just three goals in give games this season. That's a 2am kick-off and there are two games starting an hour later in northern California, where Monterey Bay FC welcome Las Vegas Lights, and FC Tulsa visit Sacramento Republic. I write it every week but the Lights have completely turned things around under new owner Jose Bautista and new head coach Dennis Sanchez, while Monterey just look okay. Sacramento look much more than okay, especially with Trevor Amann in great form up front, his partnership with Russell Cicerone paying the dividends you'd expect from a pair of top finishers. Tulsa's season hasn't really gotten started yet but if ever there was a time to make an impact, it's this match.

Saturday's final game in USL-C sees reigning champions Phoenix Rising welcome Colorado Springs Switchbacks to Arizona for a 3.30am kick-off. While Rising haven't exactly gotten their defence of the title off to a running start, their visitors are enjoying a rotten season so far, with four defeats from four games. They've only managed to score one goal in those outings so it's clear where the problem lies; what's not so clear is if they have the firepower in the squad to arrest the slide, especially having lost last season's top scorer Romario Williams to Hartford Athletic over the winter. The USL Championship weekend finishes on Sunday with the visit of Birmingham Legion to North Carolina FC. Both club are still feeling their way into the 2024 season but the home side can be reasonably content with their start after being elevated from USL League One in the off-season, and Legion managed a good win at home to Loudoun United last week.

It's opening day in the Canadian Premier League, a nominally division II tier league north of the border but whose relative qualities to the USL Championship are yet to be conclusively tested. I wrote a full preview of the season here. The first day fixtures are an interesting bunch, with an Ontario derby at 6pm (BST) as Atletico Ottawa face York United, and the 9pm clash of last season's top two in Hamilton, where Forge FC welcome Cavalry FC, the standouts. Ottawa have recruited heavily over the winter and seem to be building something of a superclub (or at least attempting to), while York are one of the league's lesser lights. Otaawa are always worth watching due to the mercurial talents of Ollie Bassett and it's hard to see past a home win here. The same might be true of the latter clash, especially with the visitors missing last season's top scorer Myers Bevan, who has opted to return to New Zealand instead of reporting for duty. Forge have won four of the five CPL titles so far and they'll be keen to lay down a marker against their nearest (historical) rivals.

Over on Vancouver Island, a midnight kick-off sees Pacific FC take on HFX Wanderers, a journey of almost 4,000 miles for any intrepid away fans. The visitors from Nova Scotia look to be one of the league's best organised clubs and will be looking to make their on-field results match that this season, but Pacific - the only club other than Forge to have won the CPL - can never be underestimated, especially on home turf. The opening weekend's final game also comes from British Columbia, with Vancouver FC home clash with Winnipeg's Valour FC kicking off at midnight on Sunday. The home side managed to finish one off the bottom in their debut season and have lost their top scorer over the winter. They have a clutch of new arrivals, however, and are quite the unknown quantity. Their season-opener against a club who are usually there or thereabouts come season's end will be a good test of their future ambitions.