USL League One, NISA & MLS Next Pro previews, May 3-5

It's back to league action in USL League One after the fun of the Jägermeister Cup last week and things get off to a flying start on Friday night at midnight (all times BST) when One Knoxville visit Richmond Kickers. Knoxville have lost just once this season, at unbeaten Union Omaha, and will fear nothing as they travel to City Stadium to face a Kickers side that have won only once in the league this year. Both sides won their Jägermeister Cup games last week, although Richmond needed penalties to do it, and you'd expect a big crowd will see it all unfold. Also on Friday night, but with a 3.30am kick-off, is Central Valley Fuego versus Charlotte Independence from Fresno, California. With former USMNT legend Jermaine Jones in his first ever coaching job, Fuego have struggled this season but did manage to grab a last minute draw - and subsequent win on penalties - in Spokane last week. Independence, meanwhile, will be looking forward to the trip to Georgia to face MLS side Atlanta United on Tuesday night and Mike Jeffries's players will be looking to secure their places for that glamour tie.

There are two games on Saturday, the first of which is a midnight start in Wisconsin, where Forward Madison host Greenville Triumph. Rick Wright's handover from former head coach John Harkes has been almost seamless for Triumph so far and they sit top of the table with four wins from six games. Sure, they lost the shootout to Richmond in the Jägermeister Cup last week, and they were beaten 3-1 in the last round of the Open Cup by Louisville, but they have nothing to fear at this level, even from a Madison side that has the potent threats of Derek Gebhard and Christian Chaney. The weekend's final game sees South Georgia Tormenta travel almost twelve-hundred miles to face Union Omaha, a 1am kick-off from Werner Park, the stadium Union share with minor league baseball club Omaha Storm Chasers. Omaha have been in imperious form so far this season, unbeaten in all competitions and preparing to host Sporting Kansas City of MLS in the Open Cup on Wednesday. Tormenta, too, are still alive in that competition, and will make a relatively shorter journey to Charleston that night, but it's hard to see them getting much out of their visit to the Big O.

Week five in the NISA league starts on Friday in Atlanta, where Georgia FC open the gates of Silverbacks Park for the 10pm visit of Club de Lyon. That's 5pm local time, which seems an odd time to start a game on a Friday, but you do you, Georgia! The home side are brand-new for this year after the proposed Georgia Lions franchise fell through, and they've had a mixed start, with a win, a draw, and a defeat so far. That win came last week at the expense of Savannah, who won at Club de Lyon the week before, so current form would give Georgia the edge over their visitors from Florida. The weekend's other two games are on Saturday, beginning with the visit of Maryland Bobcats to the Detroit suburbs home of Michigan Stars at midnight. Stars have won three out of three so far and will be looking to repeat their 2022 title win but it's still early days. The Bobcats have played just one league game so far, a 3-0 win away at Savannah, and so they are very much an unknown quantity going into this game. The other Saturday game is a 3am kick-off from the Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach, California, where Los Angeles Force take on Irvine Zeta in the latest of a string of southern California derbies this season. Force have won one, lost one, drawn one so far this season, while Zeta are yet to lose. They met in week one, when a 2-2 draw was a fair result, but Zeta put four past Arizona Monsoon last week and will be in buoyant form.

Only Chattanooga FC of the two independent clubs in the mostly MLS reserve team MLS Next Pro league are in action this weekend, welcoming Orlando City B to Finlay Stadium for a 10pm kick-off on Saturday. The Boys in Blue sit top of the Eastern Conference after seven games and will not fear a young Lions side that sit ninth with just two wins this season so far. Elsewhere, games to watch include New York City FC II at Atlanta United 2, a few days ahead of the baby Pigeons' US Open Cup game with Colorado Springs Switchbacks, and the fourth versus fifth clash in the West between Sporting Kansas City II and North Texas SC.