Memphis 901 FC @ Birmingham Legion preview: Southern Harm part 2

Despite having met earlier this year in the US Open Cup, Wednesday night’s game will be the first regular season meeting this year between Memphis 901 FC and the Birmingham Legion. And while that last meeting between the two sides was a complete debacle for Memphis 901 FC (they were soundly beaten 3-0 by the Legion) that was a cup competition and should have no bearing on this game. Each team is pushing for the best possible playoff spot so this game figures to be quite a battle.

Memphis 901 FC’s push to the playoffs got a solid boost during their recent three game home stand. They opened with a wild and entertaining 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies (who have clinched a playoff spot and currently sit second in the Eastern Conference with 54 points). That win was followed by a frustrating 1-0 loss to Monterey Bay FC, who have used a run of four straight wins to haul themselves into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 40 points. 901 FC’s most recent outing against Hartford Athletic started off with a near-disastrous first half as the Beale Street Boys went into the locker room at halftime trailing 2-1 to the worst team in the Eastern Conference (and second worst team in the whole league). Memphis kept their composure however and after some halftime adjustments, came out and dominated the second half. New signing Samuel Careaga scored his first goal in a 901 FC shirt, Luiz Fernando scored a Goal of the Week candidate, and the Rodrigo Da Costa added a fourth for good measure. So over the course of their three game home stand, 901 FC was able to get six out of nine points and keep the pressure on Louisville City for the fourth spot, to which the team that finishes there gets to host a home playoff game. With five games remaining in the season, two of which are against Birmingham, continuing to get points is of the utmost importance for 901 FC.

Birmingham currently sits six points behind Memphis in the Eastern Conference standings. But given that two of 901 FC’s remaining five games are against the Legion, that could look very different before all is said and done. The Legion also have five games remaining in the season and are currently five points clear of Detroit City who sit just outside the playoff places. They obviously beat 901 FC in the US Open Cup earlier this year as they advanced to the quarter-finals of that competition where they were eliminated by a pre-Lionel Messi Inter Miami. Their regular season form has been rather streaky. They lost all five of their regular season games during the month of May. They then won both of their regular season games in June before going 2-2-1 in July. August saw them post a record of two wins, three losses, and one draw. And so far in September they’ve played three, won one, and lost two. But when it comes to rivalry games like Southern Harm, form and records can usually be thrown right out the window.