San Diego Loyal (3 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses) currently sits in 2nd spot in Group B. The team is two points clear of Los Dos and three points clear of Orange County, but has played three games more than both of them.

This is the first-ever meeting between Rising and Loyal, with the visitors currently in the middle of their inaugural season. Last season, Rising recorded one win, one draw and one loss in its first game against each expansion team.

San Diego is managed by its co-owner and former player Landon Donovan. This is Donovan’s first managerial job, although he has spent almost 20 years on the pitch in the professional game. In that time, he managed to make 157 appearances and score 57 goals for the US national team. All-time among mens’ national team players, he has the second most caps (after Cobi Jones) and is joint-first with Clint Dempsey for goals. Donovan spent most of his playing career a few hours north of his current club at LA Galaxy.

LAST GAME

San Diego’s last match was a 2-0 defeat against Orange County. A counter-attack strike from Sean Okoli gave the visitors the lead in the second half, and victory was sealed in the last ten minutes thanks to a blast from outside the penalty area by Aodhan Quinn.

Loyal lined up with three at the back and two wing-backs. Further forward, the team was more clustered around the center of the park. This is a fairly typical San Diego formation.

San Diego Loyal Assistant Coach Nate Miller talks through what he saw in the last game:

Jake Fenlason started between the posts. That was the 27-year-old’s second game of the season, after starting the opener against Vegas in March. Fenlason is a San Diego native, and joined Loyal after two season at Saint Louis FC. In both of those years, he held the starting job at the start of the season, but fell down in the pecking order after a few months.

Captain Sal Zizzo had actually retired at the end of the 2018 season after winning MLS Cup with Atlanta United. Another San Diego native, he couldn’t resist when Donovan came calling, and was the new club’s first signing. As a youngster, Zizzo was picked up by German side Hannover, but a series of injuries, including a season-ending ACL injury in 2009, saw him fail to truly break into the Bundesliga team. He returned to California, starting off a 9-year MLS career that saw him play for Chivas, Portland, Sporting KC and Red Bulls before finally ending up in Georgia. He’s played in all but one of the club’s games this year.

Montenegrin Emrah Klimenta lined up alongside him against OC, and is a pretty common sight in the USL Western Conference. He’s played in the conference for seven consecutive seasons, stretching back to when he was first signed by Sacramento in 2014. Klimenta hasn’t truly played a full season since that initial spell at Republic, though. He also hasn’t scored a goal since 2017. The 6-foot-1 defender has received seven full international caps, with his last coming in late 2018.

In contrast with the other two players at the back, Grant Stoneman is far less experienced at Championship level or above. He joined Loyal from Lansing Ignite, following assistant coach Miller. Stoneman has been an ever present for Loyal this season, playing in every single minute, and is solid in the tackle (winning 80%). He garnered praise from Miller, too, who said the defender “…has been phenomenal playing against some top strikers.” The center-back even scored the winner in Loyal’s 1-0 victory over Real Monarchs. Perhaps indicative of the team’s style of play, Stoneman is currently second in the league for number of passes.

Rising aren’t the only Western Conference team with a scouse defender on the books, as San Diego will likely look to Jack Metcalf at the right wing-back position. Another former Liverpool academy player, Metcalf first moved to the United States to play in college at Clemson. After graduation, he spent time with Charlotte Independence and Atlanta United 2, with a short spell in between at then-Welsh Premier League club Bangor City. Metcalf hasn’t look too bad from the wide position this season, recording two assists to date.

Elijah Martin featured on the opposite flank last match. A Fresno-native, he joined San Diego after his hometown club ceased play at the end of last season. In 2019, Martin showed himself to be a player who could create chances (averaging over one per game), but with just one goal and one assist, there was clearly some room for improvement. He’s played in each match this season.

Self-styled “smaller and very technical” midfielder Charlie Adams is back in the United States after an ill-fated trip to Austria. Adams had signed a three-year deal with third-tier FC Pinzgau Saalfelden, but was released just months into the contract due to cost-cutting measures. He has previously featured for Orange County, Real Monarchs and Louisville City in USL. In an interview earlier this year, Adams told his former club Brentford that he originally moved to the US because “…the style is a little bit slower,” and “…not as physical” as England. Adams has featured in every Loyal game this season, and scored the club’s first ever competitive goal.

Carlos Álvarez is back in the Western Conference after a spell with Loudon last season. He enjoyed a seven goal season with Lights in 2018, but failed to replicate that success in the East. It doesn’t look as though he’s entirely shaken off that form this year, either, taking just two shots, and recording no goals or assists. Álvarez is no stranger to expansion teams, and was the first player signed by both San Antonio and LAFC, although the latter released him prior to playing a game.

Formerly of Minnesota United and DC United, Collin Martin also featured in the heart of the San Diego team in midweek. Martin previously had spells with Richmond Kickers and Hartford on loan. He’s never been a regular for a full season, but is expected to become one this season. Martin has recorded one assist so far this year, and is also joint-top on his team for chances created. At present, he is also the only openly gay player in USL Championship.

Tumi Moshobane is another ex-Lansing player, and played under Miller at both Ignite in League One and United in the PDL. The South African came through the youth setup at Kaizer Chiefs, one of the country’s most successful football clubs, before moving to the US to attend college. He’s scored just one goal this season, but over 90% of his shots this year have been on target. His awareness and positioning created a few chances on Wednesday against Orange County, even though he ultimately squandered them.

A familiar face to Rising fans up top is Ben Spencer, who spent last season as Adam Jahn’s backup. Spencer didn’t play a huge role with Rising last year, making just two starts in sixteen appearances, but the Albuquerque native still managed to score five goals. He’s no stranger to playing under younger managers who enjoyed illustrious careers, having signed his first professional deal with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Molde FK in Norway. He’s yet to score in his four appearances this season but could boost the team in other ways today, as Miller acknowledged Spencer’s role in preparing Loyal to face Phoenix.

Coming off the bench for Loyal in midweek was another former Rising player in Eric Ávila. A San Diego native who came through the Chivas USA academy, Ávila previously played for multiple MLS and USL teams. In the two years since Ávila left Phoenix, he hasn’t managed to record a single goal. Ávila has featured in all but one of San Diego’s games in 2020, but has only clocked up one full 90 minutes.

Francis Atuahene is currently the top goalscorer for San Diego, but that isn’t too impressive given he’s only scored two. This is Atuahene’s first chance to become a regular feature in a squad, after making few appearances in his previous loan spells away from FC Dallas with Austin Bold and OKC Energy. Intriguingly, in his sole MLS appearance to date, the Ghanaian scored a vital equaliser against San Jose just three minuted after being subbed on.

26-year-old Irvin Parra hasn’t been given the best of opportunities since the restart, starting just one game so far. That’s a little surprising, given that he managed to score 15 goals in a poor Las Vegas Lights team last season. Parra’s biggest danger comes from his right foot, but don’t sleep on his aerial ablities either. In fact, the 6-foot-1 striker’s sole goal this year came from his head.

Two key players were forced to miss Wednesday’s game. Defender Joe Greenspan was mentioned by Rick Schantz as an important player for Loyal due to his height, but is out through injury according to Miller. In goal, Jon Kempin was reportedly left out for reasons relating to his loan deal from Columbus, but it’s unclear if he’ll be available for selection this evening.

Rising head coach Rick Schantz talks about what he expects to see from San Diego:

ONE TOP TALKING POINT

Getting on a bus and travelling for hours only to discover you can’t play doesn’t sound fun. It’s happened to Loyal twice this season, but what kind of an impact does that have on a team? Here’s what Rick Schantz and Nate Miller had to say:

From the Ashes Prediction: If Rising can get a goal in the first half, the floodgates will probably open. A fairly comfortable victory.