San Diego FC is fast running out of firsts.
Still, this weekend’s match at St. Louis City SC marks new territory for Major League Soccer’s newest club. The 5:30 p.m. start is the first of three matches SDFC will play in during a seven-day stretch. The club’s first-ever midweek game is scheduled for Wednesday against the Colorado Rapids at Snapdragon Stadium; SDFC will wrap the stretch on May 17 with a home match against Sporting Kansas City.
Coach Mikey Varas said Thursday that he’ll see how his players respond physically before deciding whether to rest anyone for the midweek game.
SDFC will be without forward Marcus Ingvartsen (leg) and defender Andres Reyes (knee) on Saturday; both players have been injured for weeks. Winger Alex Mighten, who left last weekend’s match with a shoulder injury, is not expected to play, Varas said.
There are no plans to rest any healthy regulars against St. Louis, he said.
After that?
“We just have to keep an eye on how guys recover from game to game,” Varas said. “We don’t have any, like, planned rotations. We’ll put the team out that we feel will give us the best chances of winning. That might mean resting guys. I just don’t know what that even looks like yet, and we won’t know until we get back until after this game.”
You again
Saturday brings a rematch with St. Louis City SC, two months after the teams played to a scoreless tie in the first-ever regular-season match played at Snapdragon Stadium.
St. Louis might be Major League Soccer’s most defensive-minded team, a strategy that comes at a cost. The club has allowed just 12 goals in 11 matches … but has scored just eight times. Only Austin (seven goals in 11 matches) and Montreal (five goals in 11 matches) score less in the 30-team MLS.
“They’re very committed to keeping clean sheets, and they actually have a lot of quality if you’re not careful in of counter-attacking,” Varas said. “We want to take care of the ball. We want to have longer attacks. We want to make sure we’re finishing actions on the goal or behind their back line, and then making sure our counter-pressing and our pressing is still organized and intense.”
Match moved
This summer’s friendly between SDFC and Club América of Liga MX will be played two weeks earlier than originally scheduled. The match is now scheduled for June 7 at Snapdragon Stadium.
The teams agreed to move the match to accommodate Club América’s potential inclusion in the FIFA Club World Cup.
SDFC officials said tickets that have already been sold will be honored on the new date.
