Both Sacramento Republic and Phoenix Rising have banked 10 points to date, with Rising having played a game more. Despite Phoenix’s better goal difference, Sacramento remains four places ahead in 7th position (after Friday night’s games) as they have won more games.
Rising struggled against Sacramento last season. The California side won 3-1 in the desert in May, before drawing the return fixture 0-0. Phoenix, including its predecessor club Arizona United, has never won away to Sacramento.
Sacramento are weaker than the average USL team in the air. They have won less than 45% of aerial duels in 2019. However, they have only conceded one goal at home to date this season.
Overall, Sacramento has enjoyed more of the ball than their opponents, and is no more likely to score in either half than the other.
They’ve only conceded one goal at home from open play, but what’s more interesting is that all of their goals seem to hit the back of the net in roughly the same spot.
Last time out
Sacramento fell to a 1-0 defeat against Portland Timbers 2, with discipline mostly to blame. Portland’s goal came from a penalty, and Republic had two players sent off for second yellow cards.
Former Rising keeper Josh Cohen has been in goal for all six of Sacramento’s games this year. In his sole season in Phoenix, Cohen kept eight clean sheets as he battled with Woz for a place in the starting lineup. He was named to the all-USL second team last year, after keeping 12 clean sheets in 35 games, with an impressive save rate of 77.9%.
Shannon Gomez has also started every game so far for Republic. The fullback likes to push forward, and can be expected to put in a few crosses during the game. Not afraid to get stuck in, Gomez has won the most tackles of any player in the team (15). Currently in his second season at Papa Murphy’s Park, he signed for Sacramento from New York City. Prior to that, he played for W Connection in his native Trinidad & Tobago, and was a fixture in their 15-16 CONCACAF Champions League run that saw them turn over Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa.
Jordan McCrary started at left back in the defeat to Timbers 2. It was only his second start of the season, and he’s still to complete a game. Nevertheless, he’s proven impressive at winning duels on the ground (76.2%) and in the air (77.8%). This is McCrary’s first season with Sacramento, signing in mid-March from Seattle Sounders.
McCrary was replaced midway through the second half by Charalampsos Chantzopoulos. The Greek defender has already scored this season, but will miss his first game of 2019 against Rising through suspension. He received his marching orders against T2 with a second yellow card in the 91st minute.
Skipper Dekel Keinan sits in the heart of defence. He’s one of only three players to feature in every single minute of the 2019 campaign so far, and his passing accuracy (86.5%) shows he is capable of playing the ball out from the back. Keinan also leads the team in clearances (27). The former Israeli international began his career with Maccabi Haifa, but also appeared featured for Blackpool and Cardiff City. His most recent club was FC Cincinnati.
Mitchell Taintor lined up alongside Keinan against T2. He’s started five, and appeared in all six, games this season. Taintor first moved to Sacramento Republic last season, after two seasons with Toronto FC II. Not long after joining Republic, however, he returned to Toronto on loan, playing and scoring for the first team.
Ray Saari is in his first season with Sacramento, and has started all six games in central midfield. He’s an important member of the midfield, and has recorded more passes per 90 minutes than any non-defender (52.3). Few players in USL have overcome adversity in the way that Saari has. At the age of 15, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, but after treatment returned to the field. He went on to play four years at the University of Tulsa, before turning professional with Seattle Sounders 2 in 2017.
Saari was joined on April 13 by Drew Skundrich. Skundrich is more of a battler and sees far less of the ball, yet is second only to Keinan in passing accuracy (85.5%). He’s a more direct player than Saari. Less of his passes are played backwards. This is Skundrich’s first season at Papa Murphy’s Park, having signed from Bethlehem Steel over the winter.
Villyan Bijev replaced Skundrich at half-time against T2, but will not be in the squad against Rising. The former Liverpool youth player, whose debut 2016 USL season saw him lead the league in assists and be named to the team of the year, also picked up two yellow cards in the last match.
There’s an Arizona connection on the wing, as Tyler Blackwood features in his second spell with Sacramento. Blackwood has appeared in every game this season, and was part of the 2016 Arizona United squad, scoring eight goals. He’s still awaiting his first goal this season. Hopefully, it will not come against Rising. Blackwood’s other former clubs are QPR, Newport County and Swope Park Rangers.
23-year-old Sam Werner has featured regularly for Sacramento on the opposite wing. This is his first season with the club, after a brief spell with Israeli Hapoel Hadera. The former Stanford student had previously been part of the Portland Timbers youth setup. He has one goal to his name to date – a right footed strike from outside the box against OKC Energy
Stefano Bonomo replaced Werner with ten minutes to go against T2. He was the only player subbed on against Portland not to receive their marching orders. Bonomo has started four games so far this year, but has yet to record a single shot on target. This is Bonomo’s first season with Sacramento after joining from Tampa Bay.
Playing just off the striker is Jaime Villarreal. A product of the LA Galaxy academy, Villarreal is in his second season with Republic. He’s already matched his tally of one goal from last season, and his impressive passing accuracy (83.5%) makes him a threat to thread the ball through to a teammate for a goal
Featuring up top in every minute of the season so far, Cameron Iwasa is Sacramento’s go-to lone striker. He’s a local boy, who signed after being cut from Montreal’s squad prior to the start of the 2015 season. Iwasa briefly left for Kansas City in 2017, and played 22 time for Swope scoring two goals, before returning to Republic last season. Currently Sacramento’s top scorer with five goals, Iwasa has twice been named to the all-USL second team (2016, 2018).
Rest of the roster
Elliott Hord has started in half of Sacramento’s matches this season. He’s been with the club since 2016 and has a very clean record given his position as a defender. He’s only collected three yellow cards and no reds in 57 league games for Republic.
Keven Alemán has started just one game for Republic this season, after making 18 appearances last year. The 25-year-old attacking midfielder from San José, Costa Rica, joined Sacramento from Saprissa ahead of the 2018 season. He has chosen to represent Canada, where he moved when he was 10, on the international stage, and has four caps with the most recent coming in 2017.
From the Ashes Prediction: It feels like a while since we had a draw. 1-1