WHO: St. Louis FC, 11W-9D-10L, 42 points, 9th place Eastern Conference

WHAT: A regular season USL Championship match

WHEN: Saturday, October 5, 2019, 8:30 p.m.

WHERE: West Community Stadium, Fenton, Missouri

WATCH:

TV Broadcast: MyTV-58, ESPN+ nationally, YouTube internationally

Radio broadcast: 840 WHAS (Kevin Kernen, Howie Lindsey)

WHO, AGAIN? Our old frenemies (a word I wish had never been created), the Saint Louis Football Club. We’ve artificially hated them, we’ve loved them, we’ve ridiculed them, we’ve given them friendly pats on the head. But now, things are a little more serious.

As I mentioned earlier this week, the recent draw with Tampa Bay may have cost LouCity a top four spot in the playoffs. That doesn’t mean Morados can’t drop down the standings, still, as North Carolina and Ottawa are still right on City’s heels, even if the good guys have a game in hand. There’s also an outside chance to climb to fifth. This game is important.

St. Louis, meanwhile, is still in a fight for their playoff lives. This is a home match for them, where they typically play pretty well. Manager Anthony Pulis seems to be able to put together strong game plans for our Boys in Purple. His team is hungry, his fans are insatiable, and they’ll be bringing some edge to this game, no doubt.

When we last met, St. Louis was on a real tear, and was even top of the table. Then they went on a good US Open Cup run, but at the expense of their league form as the Chupacabras went winless in the Championship from April 28 all the way until September 1. Then they caught fire again, rattling off five straight wins until their last two matches, a loss to Memphis and a draw against Atlanta United 2. Weird.

Thanks in large part, probably, to that winless streak, St. Louis hasn’t scored a lot of goals this season (37). They’ve managed to keep twelve clean sheets on the season, though. More to the point, they’ve only lost once at home all season.

Kyle Grieg, Sam Fink, Russell Cicerone and Tyler Blackwood are all standouts on this squad. Obviously, we’re equally familiar with Kadeem Dacres, who’s done well in green and blue this season, too.

This is going to be a hard game. Both teams really need the three points. I don’t think I’d want it any other way. Let’s go get them. VAMOS MORADOS.