The USL Championship season is still young, but New Mexico United has already had two matches they’d like to forget. Two matches against Eastern Conference opponents have gone terribly. But now, half of the non-conference schedule is out of the way and the club is about to get into a stretch of home games that could help them build momentum. Before they can do that, they have to travel to Cashman Field to face Las Vegas.
For Las Vegas as much as things change, they’re still the same. Over the off-season the Lights found new ownership in the form of former MLB star Jose Bautista, who wanted to bring the club into the season with a new sense of leadership and competitiveness about them. But, in true Lights fashion, they had to rebuild their squad and didn’t announce a roster until shortly before the season began. That roster has resulted in a feast or famine scenario when it comes to their on the pitch showing. After starting the season with consecutive losses, they ran off three straight wins before losing another three in a row.
The biggest problem for the Lights is that they’re not great at the back. That’s where they’re losing matches. They have the talent up front with Valentin Noel leading the charge. He has backup in the form of Solomon Asante, but the former Rising player hasn’t lived up to his past performances. If this club can find a way to stop United in the midfield, Asante and Noel will have plenty of chances to exploit a United back line that struggles at times in front of its own goal.
Player to Watch
Valentin Noel – The French transport has been playing in the US since 2023 having spent time with Austin FC II of MLS Next Pro. Over two seasons, the midfielder only had 25 appearances, but scored in 6 of them. This came on the heels of being name to the ACC first-team in both 2020 and 2022. Noel has been the spark for Lights so far this season and against a strong United midfield, could be in for a tough night.
Once again, United needs to find a way to bounce back from a tough loss on the East Coast. Twice now, they’ve gone East dealing with injury and illness and come away with zero points. It’s still early enough that in a few months these losses could likely be overlooked. But, they have to learn from these experiences. After the last loss, they turned things around and won four straight. Against Lights, United has a chance to turn the momentum and keep pace at the top of the West.
One thing that United has to do better this week is play out of the back. They invited too much pressure last week and struggled to find ways to create. Las Vegas may be one of the few teams that United could successfully do this against. Whether Quill and his club do that or not, they have to be better through the midfield and control the pace of play. United has been at their best when they run at defenses and play through the middle of the park. Exploiting those spaces against Vegas will allow Greg Hurst to get opportunities in the area and force the goalkeeper into making tough decisions.
Player to Watch
Sergio Rivas – Rivas hasn’t gotten many opportunities to play this year, but his style of play could be key against Las Vegas. As someone who can come up from a deeper position on the pitch, he can push the tempo and run at defenders in the middle. That will open up lanes for the wingers and Hurst to be played in behind and threaten the Lights’ goal.
Coverage of Saturday’s match begins at 7:30 PM (MT) with Adam Diehl and Andy Hageman on the pregame show. following that, the duo will bring every minute of every play with kickoff at 8:30 PM. Catch coverage of United all season long on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM The TEAM, The TEAM website, and The TEAM apps.