Memphis 901 FC vs. North Carolina FC Preview

It bears repeating, despite having already been repeated many times, that the playoff race in the Western Conference of the USL Championship is incredibly tight. While New Mexico United has put s good bit of distance between themselves and the rest of the field, the remaining seven playoff spots could all still fall any number of ways. Memphis 901 FC sits in fifth place, following Wednesday night’s home draw with the Hartford Athletic. They may be in fifth, but they are just a single point out of second place. In fact, they are tied on points with the Oakland Roots in fourth place for the final home playoff spot. Unfortunately, the USL Championship does not use goal difference as the first tiebreaker (901 FC is at +8 while the Oakland Roots are at -11). Three points at home against North Carolina FC would keep the Beale Street Boys right in the thick of the race for a home playoff game.

Memphis 901 FC’s run of form over the last five games has been decent. They had a resounding 5-1 on the road against Miami FC (who is already eliminated from playoff contention) and followed it up with a 2-0 home win over an FC Tulsa team that is hovering between seventh and ninth in the standings. After that, they had a two-game road trip in which they got a 1-1 draw with the aforementioned Oakland Roots and then fell 2-1 in the altitude of Colorado Springs to the Switchbacks (a game which saw two 901 FC players sent off and shown red cards). And then of course, they were home this past Wednesday against Hartford and created a litany of chances (28 shots!) but were unable to finish them and had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

North Carolina FC is back in the USL Championship after three years down in USL League One. So, while they are technically a new team in the league, it’s not like they haven’t been here before. Their season so far has been typical of a team that just moved up to a higher league. They’re currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and have won just eight times all season, but they are only two points out of the final playoff spot. Their manager is John Bradford who has been in his post since January of 2021, following the departure of Dave Sarachan (who was the USMNT manager in 2018). North Carolina features a pair of former Memphis 901 FC players: Rafael Mentzingen (who scored 3 goals in 13 appearances back in 2020) and Rodrigo da Costa, who was a big part of the team for the second half of last season (he scored 12 goals in 25 appearances after he was acquired from FC Tulsa in the Philip Goodrum trade).

When, Where

Date: Saturday, September 14, 2024

Venue: AutoZone Park

City: Memphis, Tennessee

Time: 7pm CT

TV: WMC 5.3, ESPN+

Tickets: Memphis 901 FC vs. North Carolina FC tickets

All-Time Series

Memphis 901 FC trails 1-3-1

Last Meeting

Date: Sunday, September 13, 2020

Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park

City: Cary, North Carolina

Result: Memphis 901 FC 2-3 North Carolina FC

Conference Standing

Memphis 901 FC: 5th in West (40pts)

North Carolina FC: 10th in East (33pts)

Next Game

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2024

Competition: USL Regular Season

Match-Up: Memphis 901 FC @ Louisville City

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

City: Louisville, Kentucky

Time: 6:30pm CT

TV: WMC 5.3, ESPN+