Union Omaha travel to Chattanooga to polish off their rust
After having the previous week off, Union Omaha begin a stretch of three games in eight days on the road against Chattanooga Red Wolves. With back-to-back rivalry games at home to follow against Greenville Triumph and Forward Madison, Omaha have the luxury of not only the extra time to rest, but also having an opponent in Chattanooga that are playing their second game in five days, having just lost 2-0 away to One Knoxville earlier in the week. Knoxville have lost three of their last four games, while Omaha have won only one of their last five.
It’s been a quiet off week for Omaha, who had not seen more than a week between games since their unplanned break at the beginning of the season following postponement of their first scheduled away match in Knoxville back in the beginning of April. After that, they had to play 7 games between April 8 and May 5, a span of only 28 days. Manager Dominic Casciato presented several different looks for the squad during that stretch, but the same 13-14 players were the most prominently featured during that time. There’s no reason to think that won’t continue to be the case, but the injury status of left-back Stefan Mueller might dictate how the rest of the lineup looks. Does his inclusion take one of Marco Milanese or Shaft Brewer Jr. off the pitch? Does a potential defensive rearrangement also have an affect on the midfield?
Casciato gave a very different look against Richmond Kickers a couple weeks back, not only playing in a 4-3-3 formation but also sending out a starting lineup that seemed to keep its shape for the majority of the game. It was also the first game without Junior Palacios in the starting XI, who was replaced by Luca Mastrantonio, but the main focus going into the game was the usage of four players that seem to be interchangeable at this early stage of the season; Steevan Dos Santos, Joe Gallardo, Joe Brito and Pedro Dolabella. Dos Santos and Dolabella got the starts while the others came on as substitutes, but it was also the third game in 11 days. Fitness shouldn’t be a factor for this one, so it will be interesting to see how the lineup differs this weekend, and what it could mean going into a midweek game against Greenville Triumph, followed up right away with Forward Madison.
Chattanooga themselves have been no strangers to offering different looks in their backfield, offering three different starting defensive back combinations in their last five matches, using six different defenders in that span. Regardless of their lineup or their formation (they’ve dabbled with a 4-2-3-1, but have consistently been playing a flat 4-4-2) they’ve definitely prioritized playing the ball in the middle of the field. The further up players like Walter Varela and Mayele Malango are playing the more success Chattanooga’s attack seems to be, otherwise they seem play a compact game in the center. Either because of results (trailing 2-0 at the half to Knoxville) or the prospect of a second game this week, Chattanooga went to the bench early this past Tuesday, having burned all five substitutes before the 75th minute. In a game that they were out possessed, out shot and passed with fairly poor accuracy (below 70%), Chattanooga are coming off one of their worst performances heading into the weekend. Don’t be surprised to see manager Ziggy Korytoski change things up against Omaha.
| Chattanooga Red Wolves | Union Omaha | |
| Overall Record | 2-1-4 | 2-3-1 |
| Table Position | 11th | 9th |
| Recent Form | W-L-W-L-L | L-D-L-W-D |
| Last Match | L (2-0 @ KNOX) | D (0-0 @ RIC) |
| Next Match | CLT (Away, May 27) | GVL (Home, May 24) |
| Leading Scorer | 5 players (1 goal) | Noe Meza (3 goals) |
Who Gives A Hoot? 