North Texas SC is back in action this Saturday after a week off, hosting another new team in USL League One, Forward Madison FC. If you haven't already seen the team's Twitter account (@ForwardMSNFC), definitely go check it out. They're easily the funniest and most entertaining social media presence in the league. #FullMingo, indeed.

Background

North Texas SC enters the weekend in 3rd place in USL League One, by nature of beating Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 3-2 two weeks ago. Madison, meanwhile, sits in 9th place, having lost to Chattanooga 1-0 in the one match they've played so far.

Madison is also the one club that North Texas plays 4 times this season, leading to plenty of jokes on Twitter and Reddit over the potential for a super-serious, not at all tongue-in-cheek rivalry between the two sides. Honestly, I've seen rivalries start for far more arbitrary reasons, so I'm on board.

The Opponent

Forward Madison FC is another brand new team for League One's inaugural season, playing at historic Breese Stevens Field in Madison, and run by the legendary Peter Wilt. Wilt is one of the biggest names in American soccer, having led the launch of the Chicago Fire, Indy Eleven, and the upcoming National Independent Soccer Association, before leaving to launch Forward Madison in May of 2018.

Madison is coached by Daryl Shore, a former goalkeeper in the old A-League who has previously worked as an assistant with the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake and served as head coach of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers during 2011, 2012, and part of the 2013 NASL seasons.

Madison has begun the season with a 3-game road trip, due to ongoing renovations to Breese Stevens Field, and don't play their first home game until the end of April.

Madison lined up in a 4-3-3 against Chattanooga with a system that won't look unfamiliar to Dallas soccer fans. Mason Toye played up top as a lone striker, with Paulo Junior and Jiro Toyama on the wings. Jeff Michaud serves as the primary playmaker, while both J.C. Banks and Josief Núñez handle duties as linking/defensive midfielders. In a lot of ways, the Madison setup is a hybrid of a typical 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1. Wing backs Don Smart and Carter Manley are likely to press very, very high, during which Banks drop back to fill in as a third center back.

Available Players

This week's list of players available for North Texas includes 5 first team MLS players and 6 academy kids. These 11 players join the 12 North Texas SC signings to comprise the 23-man selection roster, from which the 18-man match day roster is picked.

From the first team, Callum Montgomery, John Nelson, Bryan Reynolds, Brandon Servania, and Kyle Zobeck have been listed for North Texas, while from the academy, we have Imanol Almaguer, Julian Hinojosa, Gibran Rayo, and Tanner Tessmann on their second academy contracts of the season, with Johan Gomez and Zach Schawl being optioned for the first time. From the six listed academy players, only five may appear on the match day roster.

Predicted Starting 11

Between the players listed by FC Dallas and observations from practice this past week, this weekend's 18 will likely look nearly identical to the previous game against Chattanooga.

We've already heard from Luchi that Pepi will indeed play for North Texas before joining the U17s for the remainder of the Generation Adidas Cup. Oscar Romero and Dante Sealy look to be the top choices for the right and left wings, respectively, with Ronaldo Damus likely being named to the bench to sub in for Sealy if necessary.

In midfield, Eric Quill has two major options in the primary playmaker role; David and Arturo Rodriguez. David looks likely to join the U17s for the GA Cup alongside Ricardo Pepi and was with the academy teams instead of North Texas on Thursday. Knowing that, Arturo is likely starting with Jatta and Servania behind him.

In the back line, Callum Montgomery will start alongside Brecc Evans, with John Nelson and Bryan Reynolds playing outside. In goal, don't be surprised to see Kyle Zobeck make his first professional appearance this year over Carlos Avilez, simply because Kyle desperately needs playing time to stay fit.

On the bench, expect to see Imanol Almaguer, Ronaldo Damus, Bicou Bissainthe, Hector Montalvo, Cesar Murillo, Kevin Bonilla, and Carlos Avilez to round out the 18.

Around the League

Tormenta FC currently sits in 1st place in League One, with wins against Greenville and Tucson and a scoreless draw against Richmond. Toronto FC II edges out North Texas SC for 2nd on goal differential, beating Orlando City B 2-0 last Friday. FC Tucson sits 4th, with a win against OCB and a loss to Tormenta. Lansing, Chattanooga, and Greenville all sit level with Toronto, North Texas, and Tucson with three points each. Richmond has sole possession of 8th place with 1 point through 2, and Madison and OCB sit without a point in the bottom two.

The weekend begins with four games on Saturday: Greenville hosts Chattanooga and Lansing hosts Richmond, both at 6 p.m. CST, followed by North Texas vs Madison at 9:20 and Tucson vs Toronto at 9:30. Sunday's lone game sees Orlando City B hosting Tormenta FC at 4 p.m. As always, every USL League One game this season is available to stream via ESPN+.