After playing its first home match in a month last Saturday, Republic FC sets back out on the road. The club takes to the desert to face off with Phoenix Rising FC, who they bested 4-0 back on July 26, continuing a stretch of three games in eight days.
The two sides have a long history of tight matchups against one another. The 24th contest between them will be no different, as both are in tight races for table position in the season’s final weeks. Phoenix enters the match coming off a come-from-behind thriller against Las Vegas Lights FC in Week 25, and have been in good form of late.
“Obviously a big week, and Phoenix away will be a difficult game,” said Head Coach Mark Briggs. “They’ve got a very good roster, very good players. And they’re very good team. Their results have been up and down this year, but we’re going into it understanding it’s a really difficult game against the really difficult opponents. We’ve got to make sure that we’re at our best and it’s an opportunity for us to put Saturday right.
The two clubs faced off last on July 26, with Sacramento bouncing back from their previous loss with an emphatic 4-0 win at Heart Health Park. As it did a month ago, the quick turnaround to Wednesday provides the club a great opportunity to get back on the horse and leave the tough result behind them.
“Our team has responded really well,” said Jared Timmer of the club’s mindset entering the week. “We’ve had some adversity throughout the season, and guys have stepped up. It just shows that we’re a solid group and you know that we’re hungry – we don’t like losing. We’re ready to make it right”
“We understand that we’ve got to perform, that we got to get back to basics, Briggs went on. “And we understand that we want to compete for that number one spot so we’ve got to get results.
The club will take the pitch in Phoenix as healthy as it’s been this summer. Last Saturday, Rodrigo Lopez and Sebastian Herrera returned from long injury absences, bringing back two of the club’s top offensive threats. They return in time for an important stretch of the season.
“We’re getting the full accomplishment of our players. Everyone will be back healthy,” Briggs said of Lopez and Herrera’s return. “Obviously they’re only just coming back, so there’s minute restrictions for a lot of players, but it’s good for us to have to have everybody healthy and everybody fit.”
“It’s great to have those guys coming back,” said Timmer. “The quality we have is through the roof.”
