Following two straight East Coast trips, the Indomitable Club returns home to face off with Memphis 901 FC at Heart Health Park. Republic FC takes on the Beale Street Boys after a trio of strong performances to open the campaign, putting the club in a share of first place in the Western Conference table.
The contest marks the second all-time between Sacramento and Memphis, who met last July for the first time. Now part of the Western Conference, the two sides will become a lot more familiar. The Tennessee side kicked off their new conference membership with a pair of good performances in Weeks 1 and 2, and returns a bulk of its strong core from last season.
“We’ve got a very difficult game ahead,” said Lee Desmond on Thursday. “They came here last year and gave us a really tough game. We know they’re a tough team and we need to we need to get our first home win of the season.”
Through three weeks, the Quails have been strong in their execution. Republic FC remains one of the toughest clubs to break down in the entire league and have consistently threatened teams offensively from across the pitch. Trevor Amann continues to lead the Golden Boot race with three goals in as many games, and the squad has been very strong with the ball at their feet, holding nearly 60% of possession.
“We’ve performed well,” said Head Coach Mark Briggs. “But I feel we should have four more points than we do right now. So I’m happy with the performances and where we’re at, but we’ve got to be more ruthless in our own box and in the opponent’s box.”
“We’re happy with the way that we’ve moved the ball. Our possession has been good, touches have been good, passing has been good,” said defender Jonathan Ricketts. “We’re getting in good spots, getting in behind. We just want to continue that and use that to beat Memphis on Saturday.”
Returning home provides a boost for the Quails. In Week 1, the energy of a sellout crowd as the club hosted Orange County made for a memorable night. Sacramento remains one of the best teams in the league at its own groud, with 13 home victories since the start of last season – tied for most in the league.
“The last few years like we’ve created such a fortress there,” Desmond said of the club’s home pitch. “When we’re at home, confidence immediately goes up. And we’re going to have a strong atmosphere with the fans, which they always bring. They’re our 12th man.”
“We’re very fortunate that Heart Health Park is our home environment, and we get to play in front of those fans on a weekly basis,” Briggs said of playing at home. “There’s no other place like it in our league. It’s great to come back home and get that energy from our fans, that excitement, with the game approaching again on Saturday night.”
