Chicago Red Stars Vs Utah Royals: Week 15 Preview
On a roll and back in playoff position, the Chicago Red Stars face off with the Utah Royals at home. With USWNT players gone once again, can they hold on?
The past couple of weeks have been exactly what the Chicago Red Stars needed: A win in front of a record home crowd, followed by a blowout win in front of a sellout crowd on the road. After a bad stretch of games during the World Cup, the Red Stars have emphatically jumped back into the playoff picture. And this week they face up against another team who had a massive boost in quality with the return of national team players: the Utah Royals.
Sadly, for both teams, the USWNT is going to be on their ‘Victory Tour’. For the Chicago Red Stars, that means Alyssa Naeher, Tierna Davidson, Julie Ertz, and Morgan Brian will all be missing. Meanwhile, the Utah Royals will also be missing key players like Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O’Hara, and Christen Press.
The key absentee is Press. The difference between the Royals with Press and without Press is astonishing. Without Press, the team is so ineffectual in attack. The finishing isn’t wayward and poor and they struggle to create chances without Press’ dynamism and ingenuity in the final third. Press has remarkable ability. She can have four defenders on her back and still wriggle into space and get a shot on goal. She creates her own chances and finishes them.
The rest of the Utah Royals team is mediocre. Nicole Barnhart is an NWSL mainstay in goal, Desiree Scott, while not one of the key players in the national team, is a Canadian legend at the number six spot, and Amy Rodriguez had been in the USWNT discussion for most of her career. Vero Boquete can also be dangerous on her day. But watching this team play, you almost can’t tell that these players are on it. Battles of attrition are the name of the game for the Royals.
However, doesn’t mean that the Chicago Red Stars will have this easy at all. The return of USWNT star Morgan Brian provided the biggest need of the team: connecting the defense to the attack. She held down possession and allowed her teammates to move into more advanced areas of the pitch. With her now absent again, we might see Chicago revert back to their bunker mode we saw against the Houston Dash.
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On the other hand, this game may finally see the return of Danielle Colaprico, who’s been out with a leg injury. After sitting out for four games and now not even dressing for the last two, she may be ready to play in this one. Not quite the box-to-box midfielder that Brian is, Colaprico could still bring some calmness to the possession. And working together with the other quality players around her, the Chicago Red Stars are never a team to sleep on.
Projected XI:
Chicago Red Stars (4-3-3): Emily Boyd; Arin Wright, Sarah Gorden, Katie Naughton, Casey Short; Vanessa DiBernardo, Nikki Stanton, Danielle Colaprico; Yuki Nagasato, Sam Kerr, Katie Johnson
Utah Royals (4-3-3): Nicole Barnhart; Rebecca Moros, Gaby Vincent, Rachel Corsie, Katie Bowen; Lo’eau LaBonta, Desiree Scott, Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir; Katie Stengel, Verónica Boquette, Amy Rodriguez
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How To Watch:
Saturday, August 3rd, 7:00 PM CDT; At SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL, on NBC Sportsnet Chicago, and online with the Yahoo Sports App