Louisville City FC coach Danny Cruz promised changes off his squad’s loss last weekend, and he delivered six of them Saturday with a team sheet that sees new names in the lineup from back to front for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Oakland Roots SC.
Two swaps are injury-related as Amadou Dia, who exited early from last weekend’s loss at Birmingham Legion FC, misses out. But midfielder Jorge Gonzalez, who returned to play limited minutes as substitute in Birmingham, gets the start this time.
Paolo DelPiccolo, Wilson Harris, Carlos Moguel Jr., Manny Perez and Ray Serrano are the other fresh faces joining Gonzalez in the 11.
LouCity’s formation is an unknown after the boys in purple played their last five games — taking points from four of those — in a three-back shape. Moguel Jr. could slot in at center back, or this group might represent a move back to City’s more traditional 4-3-3.
Notably, Brian Ownby is newly available off the bench for the first time since an Aug. 9 draw with the Charleston Battery. A pair of muscle strains have had the star winger in and out of the rotation since the beginning of June.
This marks the first meeting between the Eastern Conference’s LouCity and Oakland Roots, from the West. Coverage will air live locally on WBKI/The CW and ESPN Louisville’s 680/105.7. USL Championship games also stream via ESPN+.
Team Sheet vs. Oakland Roots SC
28 — Oliver Semmle
6 — Wes Charpie
4 — Sean Totsch (C)
8 — Carlos Moguel Jr.
15 — Manny Perez
19 — Oscar Jimenez
36 — Paolo DelPiccolo
23 — Elijah Wynder
9 — Jorge Gonzalez
7 — Ray Serrano
14 — Wilson Harris
Substitutes: 18 — Danny Faundez, 32 — Kyle Adams, 12 — Tyler Gibson, 5 — Rasmus Thellufsen, 10 — Brian Ownby, 17 — Cameron Lancaster, 90 — Maarten Pouwels
