USL League One, NISA & MLS Next Pro previews, June 1-2

After another round of USL Jägermeister Cup matches, it's back to USL League One in the third tier this weekend, with five matches across Saturday and Sunday, starting with the visit of Lexington SC to the unbeaten Forward Madison on Saturday at 11pm (all times BST). The home side were 3-0 winners at Spokane Velocity in their last league match and won 1-0 over One Knoxville in the Jägermeister Cup last week, while the visitors haven't played in the league since April 14, when they drew 2-2 in Spokane. That's followed by two games at midnight, the first of which sees 2023 runners-up Charlotte Independence host 2022 champions South Georgia Tormenta at American Legion Memorial Stadium. Both sides lost in the Jägermeister Cup last week and both have ten points on the board so far, but Independence will be looking to get back to the kind of form that made them so hard to beat in April. The other midnight start sees One Knoxville entertain Richmond Kickers at the Regal Soccer Stadium, and Kickers will be hoping they can turn their Jägermeister Cup form into USL-1 points, having won just one league game all season. Knoxville sit third and look like a solid outfit in this company, but they're a step off the top two at this point.

Saturday's final game comes from Nebraska at 1am, where the unbeaten Union Omaha take on a Northern Colorado Hailstorm side that's yet to register a win in league competition this season. Omaha are clearly the league's best team at this point, even if they are second to a Greenville Triumph that has played more games, and it will take a Herculean effort and some amount of luck for Hailstorm to get a result at Werner Park. There's just one game on Sunday, a 9pm kick-off in northwestern South Carolina as table-toppers Greenville Triumph welcome Chattanooga Red Wolves to the gridiron-marked pitch at Paladin Stadium. The home side have won five of their eight games so far this season and will fancy a tilt at the title come October, while Red Wolves have conceded four goals in each of their last two outings. It's hard to see beyond a Greenville win here.

Week nine in the NISA league begins with Maryland Bobcats travelling to Savannah Clovers for a 10pm kick-off on Saturday night. The visitors sit second in the Eastern Conference having won four of their five games so far this season and will fancy making that five against a Clovers side that concede twice as many goals as they score. There are two games on Sunday, starting in Winter Park, Florida, where Club de Lyon face title favourites Michigan Stars. Stars lost unexpectedly at Georgia FC three weeks ago but have been otherwise imperious in the league this season, while the Lions can be world beaters one day and bottom feeders the next. The weekend's final game comes from Willow Canyon Stadium in Surprise, Arizona, home of Arizona Monsoon, the league's worst club on league form alone. They face another of 2024's new intake in the shape of Irvine Zeta, who have adapted well in making the step up from semi-professional to professional.

Both of the independent sides in MLS Next Pro are in action on Saturday night this week, with Chattanooga FC facing New England Revolution II at midnight. The mini Revs are doing slightly better than their senior side without pulling up any trees and you'd expect the Boys in Blue to have their measure, especially at Finley Stadium, where they're yet to lose in the league. Carolina Core's recent form has seen them move off the bottom of the Eastern Conference, leaving Nashville SC reserve side Huntsville City marooned at the foot of the table, and the two clash at Truist Point in Core's first ever home match. That their eight games so far have been played away from home might account for their poor form and you'd hope that the occasion will inspire them to start to match Chattanooga's form, or - honestly - what's the point?