The weekend’s action in Week 17 of the USL Championship regular season kicks off on Friday night with the Charleston Battery looking to jump back into first place in the Eastern Conference as it hosts Loudoun United FC before FC Tulsa hosts Detroit City FC with both teams in need of a win in the hunt for the playoffs.

Here's a look ahead at the action.

Charleston Battery vs. Loudoun United FC

Venue: Patriots Point
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Broadcast: ESPN+

The Lowdown: The Charleston Battery and Loudoun United FC will both try to rebound from setbacks last time out, but first place remains within reach for Charleston as it returns home after three games on the road. The Battery (8-5-4, 28pts) fell last Saturday night after holding a first-half lead against Memphis 901 FC in a 3-2 defeat that saw the side slip to third place in the Eastern Conference standings despite a bright performance that produced goals from Beto Avila and Fidel Barajas. After going 1-1-1 on the road in the past three weekends, Charleston could jump back into first place on Friday night with a two-point gap to Eastern leader Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, but is set to be without Barajas, who was called up for training camp with Mexico’s U-17 Men’s National Team for a pair of games against Brazil this week. The Battery are undefeated in their past six games overall with Loudoun (4-0-2) overall after the sides finished all square in both their meetings a season ago, but United (5-11-1, 16pts) will be eager to end that streak as it vies for a playoff place further down the standings. Loudoun suffered a 4-2 defeat to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in its last outing last Saturday at Segra Field as the side was unable to hold onto the lead after goals by Tommy Williamson and Jackson Hopkins twice put the side ahead, giving the side consecutive defeats as it heads to the Lowcountry looking to rebound.

Spotlight Players
Charleston Battery – Nick Markanich: The 23-year-old has notched five goals this season and has made a strong combination on the right side with Derek Dodson that the Battery will be look to for attacking punch.

Loudoun United FC – Houssou Landry: The 22-year-old midfielder has been a bright spot for Loudoun in its past two defeats but will need to provide more defensive cover to keep the visitors from being stung on the counterattack.

FC Tulsa vs. Detroit City FC

Venue: ONEOK Field
Kickoff: 9 p.m. ET
Broadcast: ESPN+ / SiriusXM FC

The Lowdown: FC Tulsa will try to close the gap to the teams in playoff contention in the Eastern Conference as it plays host to Detroit City FC, which will want to boost its own playoff chances after a setback at home last week as a familiar face returns to face his former club. Tulsa (2-7-7, 13pts) suffered a third consecutive defeat in its last outing when it fell 4-0 to Memphis 901 FC on June 21 at AutoZone Park. Despite that, the side remains only three points out of the playoff positions as the lower half of the Eastern Conference struggles overall for form. Tulsa and DCFC played to a 1-1 draw in May when they met at Keyworth Stadium, a result that ran Tulsa’s undefeated run in the series between the sides to three games as Dario Suarez scored from the penalty spot to level late in the first half. The Cuban forward is now part of Le Rouge’s attacking corps, however, after a pair of transactions that brought Suarez and defender Brett Levis to Detroit while sending midfielder Tommy McCabe to Tulsa. DCFC (4-4-8, 16pts) saw a recent good run of form come to an end last Saturday as it fell 1-0 against Orange County SC at Keyworth Stadium, but the visitors are undefeated in their last three road games as they come into Oklahoma and would put some distance between themselves and Tulsa if they can secure a third road win of the campaign.

Spotlight Players
FC Tulsa – Tommy McCabe: The central midfielder has made three consecutive starts for Tulsa but has yet to fully put his imprint on a game. He’ll look to change that against his former side in a potentially key matchup with DCFC’s Maxi Rodriguez.

Detroit City FC – Ben Morris: The English forward has gone a pair of starts without finding the scoresheet after his breakout display earlier this month and could use another good display to raise his confidence.