SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento Republic FC and Phoenix Rising FC will meet for the first time since the 2020 USL Championship Playoffs on Saturday night at Heart Health Park with Phoenix looking to add to its lead at the top of the Pacific Division. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET.

@SacRepublicFC (2-1-0, 6pts) suffered its first defeat of the new season last Saturday night against Orange County SC as the visitors were unable to make their edge in shots and possession tell. Sacramento has historically fared well at home against Phoenix, going 3-0-4 all-time at Heart Health Park since the sides first met in their inaugural seasons in 2014 after the sides played to a scoreless draw in their last meeting at the venue in 2019. The most recent meeting of the sides came in Phoenix last season when Rising FC took a 1-0 victory after extra time when Solomon Asante scored the lone goal of the game in the 114th minute, ending Republic FC’s quest for a second Championship Final appearance.

@PHXRisingFC (3-1-0, 9pts) rebounded from its first loss of the season last Saturday night with a 5-1 victory against Las Vegas Lights FC in which the side set Championship regular-season single-game records for both shots (41) and shots on goal (20). Rufat Dadashov led the way with a pair of goals while Santi Moar, Joe Farrell and Solomon Asante also found the net. Moar has now scored in five consecutive regular-season contests dating back to the final game of the 2020 regular season, a run that puts him two back of the best in Phoenix’s history and three away from the longest scoring stream in the Championship’s regular season, set by Hadji Barry of Sporting Kansas City II in 2018. Rising FC’s 13 goals lead the Championship, and the visitors will be hoping to claim their first win all-time in Sacramento on Saturday night.

FiveThirtyEight.com Match Predictor: Sacramento Republic FC 31%, Phoenix Rising FC 43%, Draw 26%

Most Recent Lineups

Sacramento Republic FC (4-4-2): Tomas Gomez; Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu, Dan Casey, Mitchell Taintor, Duke Lacroix; Shannon Gomez, Petteri Pennanen, Luis Felipe Fernandez, Dariusz Formella; Tucker Bone, Kharlton Belmar

Phoenix Rising FC (4-3-3): Andre Rawls; Noah Billingsley, Joe Farrell, James Musa, Ryan Flood; Jon Bakero, Kevon Lambert, Aodhan Quinn; Solomon Asante, Rufat Dadashov, Santi Moar

Discipline

Sacramento Republic FC – None

Phoenix Rising FC – None