Memphis 901 FC @ Phoenix Rising preview: Beale Street Boys on national TV

It’s beginning to sound like a broken record at this point, but 901 FC is one of the hottest teams in the USL Championship. In fact, the only thing that’s hotter is the temperatures in Memphis right now. Luckily for the players, they are on the road this week and don’t have to play in these miserable conditions. Their destination is a place the club has never been before as they travel to Arizona to take on the Phoenix Rising in a nationally televised, ESPN2 game.

Memphis 901 FC was already playing very well but just got done with a three game homestand that solidified their position as one of the best in the league. Following an impressive 3-1 win on the road against Louisville City, they returned home and played to a somewhat disappointing 0-0 draw against Detroit City (though there was a good bit of squad rotation). They got back to their winning ways quickly, however, with a 4-0 thumping of FC Tulsa in a game where they scored early and scored often. But it was the third game of the homestand that many had circled as former 901 FC boss Ben Pirmann returned to town with the Charleston Battery. It was a wild affair that saw 901 FC go up 1-0, fall behind 2-1, equalize just before halftime, Stephen Glass get shown a red card for hitting the referee with a ball and eventually pull out a 3-2 win courtesy of Rodrigo da Costa in the 74th minute.

Following the homestand where they took seven out of a possible nine points, the Beale Street Boys are now unbeaten in twelve straight league games and have won seven of their last eight. That run of form has catapulted them up the standings into third place in the Eastern Conference with multiple games in hand over each of the two teams in front of them (Pittsburgh and Charleston). And even more impressive is the number of players who have registered goals: eleven different players have combined to score a total of 20 goals (plus one own goal by Louisville) during those seven wins out of eight.

Phoenix rising comes into this game having somewhat steadied a ship that had started to list just a little bit. They haven’t had any sustained stretches of good of bad form thus far this season. But losing three out of five games between May 6 and June 3 surely set alarm bells ringing for a brief moment. Things seem to have settled down now for them since their last loss on June 3 against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. They are currently unbeaten in four straight, although only one of those is a win (3-1 away to New Mexico United) with the three draws coming against Oakland, Louisville, and Oakland again. Their manager is former Venezuela international Juan Guerra, whose last game for La Vinotinto was against the USMNT in 2012. He is currently on his second job in the USL after lasting less than a full year with the Oakland Roots in 2022, posting a record of 6-7-12 (W-L-D). The man to watch for Phoenix is Manuel Arteaga who has bagged nine goals this season for the Rising.

When, Where

Date: Saturday, July 1, 2023

Venue: Phoenix Rising Soccer Stadium

City: Phoenix, Arizona

Time: 9pm CT

TV: ESPN2

All-Time Series

Memphis 901 FC leads 1-0-0

Last Meeting

Date: Saturday, July 9, 2022

Venue: AutoZone Park

City: Memphis, Tennessee

Attendance: 3,703

Result: Memphis 901 FC 3-1 Phoenix Rising

Conference Standing

Memphis 901 FC: 3rd in East (28pts)

Phoenix Rising: 8th in West (22pts)

Next Game

Date: Friday, July 7, 2023

Competition: USL Regular Season

Match-Up: Memphis 901 FC vs. San Antonio FC

Venue: AutoZone Park

City: Memphis, Tennessee

Time: 7:30pm CT

TV: WMC 5.2, ESPN+

Tickets: Single Match Tickets – Memphis 901 FC

Photo Credit: D’Angelo Connell Photography