• Las Vegas Lights (7 wins, 5 draws, 11 losses) currently sit in 13^th spot in the USL Western Conference with 26 points, 9 places and 15 points behind Rising in 4^th.
• This is the second of 3 regular season encounters between Lights and Rising.  The two sides first met in the Valley back in May, with Rising coming out as easy 4-0 winners. Jason Johnson scored a brace, with Joseph Farrell and Solomon Asante also adding to Lights’ misery.
• The Lights are the undisputed foul play champions of USL, leading both conferences in fouls committed, yellow cards and red cards. Miguel Garduño is currently serving a three-game suspension after he fouled and kicked the ball directly at Saint Louis’ Albert Dikwa last Saturday. Captain Joel Huiqui will also miss the game due to suspension. The veteran Mexican is doing a fantastic job of leading by example, picking up a league high 11 yellow cards – that’s one caution for every 139 minutes that he’s been on the pitch.
• Since their 4-0 loss away to Rising, the Lights have picked up only 4 wins from 11 games.  Nevertheless, they are a formidable force at their Cashman Field home, winning their last 4 games in NV, scoring 10 and conceding only 2. Over the entire season, the Lights have only lost 2 games at Cashman Field, against San Antonio and Real Monarchs in April and May respectively.
• 6 new players have joined the Lights roster since the June 13 encounter in the Valley. Defensive midfielder Rafael Garcia is their most recent addition, moving to Cashman Field a week ago. Starting his professional career in 2012, Garcia featured in 45 MLS games for LA Galaxy, and also served as captain of Los Dos before leaving the club in 2017. Earlier this year, he played for New York Cosmos B in NPSL.
• Loanees Carter Manley (full back), Joseph Patrick Pérez (defender) and Omar Salgado (forward) all joined the club in July. Salgado, on loan from the yet-to-play El Paso USL expansion franchise, has found the net twice in 6 appearances.
• Manley is on loan from Minnesota United. Pérez is from Club Puebla (Liga MX).
• Center forward Daniel Guzman Jr. and defender Rodrgio Íñigo also joined the Lights last month, on free transfers from Suchitepéquez (Guatemala) and Venados (Mexico) respectively.
• Vegas has three top scorers: Raúl Mendiola, Carlos Alvarez, and Samuel Ochoa. Each player has scored 5 goals.
• Mendiola has appeared 12 times since signing for the Lights at the end of May. The 24 year-old is having a breakout season with his highest goals total in a year. In fact, he’s only 3 goals shy of equalling the number that he scored during his entire 4 year spell at Los Dos.
• Alvarez has MLS experience with Chivas USA and Colorado Rapids, and USL experience with San Antonio and Orange County. He was the first ever signing for LA FC, but was released before the team debuted in the MLS this season. On a team which lacks many standout players, Alvarez is the most likely to create chances for the Lights.  However, he has scored only one goal since their previous game against Rising.
• Sammy Ochoa, the Vegas number 9, rounds off the Lights’ top scorers. 4 of his 5 goals this season have been scored since their defeat to Rising, with his last goal coming against T2 on July 22. He previously represented the U.S. at the 2005 FIFA Youth World Championship.

• The Lights are least likely to score in the last 15 minutes of either half.

• Vegas’ biggest weakness is their defense. FiveThirtyEight scores the Lights’ back line as one of the 3 worst in USL, conceding a league high 49 goals to date (2.1 per game). So far, they’ve only kept 3 clean sheets – away to Monarchs, and at home to Saint Louis and RGV.

• Ricardo Ferriño is Vegas’ first choice goalkeeper. Making 21 appearances this season, the 27 year-old was previously contracted to Venados in the Mexico second tier. He’s collected more yellow cards (5) than clean sheets (3) this season, and has a 58.7% save success rate.

• While the Lights are only 8 points back from the playoff spots, they have been given less than 1% chance of making the playoffs with 11 games left, according to modeling website FiveThirtyEight. However, with much of their run in set to be played at home, Vegas will be hoping to defy the odds.
• The large Rising following traveling to Cashman Field can expect an interesting atmosphere. Owner Brett Lashbrook told the BBC that he makes no apologies for his club being “entertainers”, but his tactics may raise a few eyebrows. The Lights have acquired two llamas which act as game day mascots, although an incident earlier this season saw one of them leave a ‘special treat’ on the field of play moments before kick off. The supporters’ section also features what USL has described as an “in-game DJ”.
• The Lights are the first U.S. professional sports team to have a sponsorship deal with a licensed marijuana dispensary.  They have also partnered with the sports betting leader, William Hill plc.
• With 3 loan signings added to the Rising squad this week, the competition for a starting position will be stronger than ever.  Coach Rick Shantz will be hoping they play the full 90 in NV, rather than the last 25 or so minutes, which left the team a mountain to climb against OCSC last week.

From the Ashes Prediction: A 2-1 victory for Rising in a feisty encounter.