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Matchday Preview: New Mexico United vs. El Paso Locomotive FC

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 07/23/21, 8:38AM EDT

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Mountain Division rivals square off with New Mexico looking to rebound from midweek setback


New Mexico United's Josh Suggs and El Paso Locomotive FC's Dylan Mares could square off on Saturday night as the rivals meet at Isotopes Park for the first time since July 31, 2019. | Photo courtesy Ivan Pierre Aguirre / El Paso Locomotive FC

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Rivals New Mexico United and El Paso Locomotive FC will square off for the third time in the 2021 USL Championship season but also the first time in almost two years at Isotopes Park on Saturday night with New Mexico hoping to rebound from a midweek road setback as it returns home. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET.

@NewMexicoUTD (6-6-2, 20pts) fell 3-0 on Wednesday night to San Antonio FC at Toyota Field, marking a fourth consecutive road defeat for the side which last year earned a playoff berth through its remarkable exploits away from home. United has made Isotopes Park a difficult place to visit this season, however, having claimed three consecutive home wins while suffering only one defeat overall in six contests as it returned to play in front of its own fans this season. New Mexico will be hoping that home mojo continues as it did when it last played El Paso on home turf on July 31, 2019 when the side took a 3-0 victory behind goals from Chris Wehan and Kevaughn Frater. While those two players have since moved on, there are still six players that appeared in that contest still with the club, including veterans Josh Suggs and Devon Sandoval.

@EPLocomotiveFC (7-1-3, 24pts) arrives off a home victory of its own that saw Josue Aaron Gomez score the only goal in a 1-0 win against Las Vegas Lights FC last Saturday night at Southwest University Park. The game also marked goalkeeper Ben Beaury’s first professional shutout in his first appearance since joining the club earlier this season as Locomotive FC gave regular starter Logan Ketterer a night off. Should El Paso Head Coach Mark Lowry elect to retain Beaury in the starting spot it would see the New York native square off against one of his former clubs, having made his professional debut for United during the 2019 season. Locomotive FC took victory when the teams most recently met on July 3 as Dylan Mares scored twice in just over 90 seconds for a 2-1 win, and the visitors will be hoping to put further separation between itself and United with four points currently dividing the two teams in the top three of the Mountain Division.

FiveThirtyEight.com Match Predictor: New Mexico United 40%, El Paso Locomotive FC 30%, Draw 30%

Most Recent Lineups

New Mexico United (3-4-3): Alex Tambakis; Rashid Tetteh, Kalen Ryden, Justin Schmidt; Josh Suggs, Andrew Tinari, Micheal Azira, Daniel Bruce; Sergio Rivas, Devon Sandoval, Isidro Martinez

El Paso Locomotive FC (4-3-1-2): Ben Beaury; Ricardo Zacarias, Mechack Jerome, Yuma, Eder Borelli; Nick Ross, Richie Ryan, Louis Herrera; Diego Luna; Luis Solignac, Sebastian Velasquez

Discipline

New Mexico United – None

El Paso Locomotive FC – None

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