Hartford Athletic will host Saint Louis FC on Saturday for the quarterfinals of the USL Championship playoffs. This will be the first time both sides meet this season.
So, who wouldâve ever thought that Hartford would have postseason fixtures that werenât friendlies? Iâll be honest, after last yearâs results in its inaugural season, I didnât have a lot of hope. However, the team changed tenfold this season. Aside from its results compared to last season, Hartford brought in a coach who had plenty of experience in coaching soccer in England. No offense to Hartfordâs former coach Jimmy Nielsen, but Radhi JaĂŻdi has done a much better job with a squad that had about seven returning players. On top of that, after losing a key player like Jose Angulo for the 2020 season, Hartford easily found his replacement: Ever GuzmĂĄn, and man has he had an impact on the team after being San Antonio FCâs all-time leading goal scorer.
Hartford will enter the match hungry to keep its six-game undefeated streak going. After being on the road for its final games, this Connecticut teamâs momentum doesnât seem to be stopping anytime soon. Its eager fans will give Hartford a huge confidence boost to protect its 6-1-2 home record entering Saturdayâs game. However, Hartford havenât played against many teams outside of Group F, which is my main concern. Theyâve only played against Indy Eleven, who were in the same group as Saint Louis (Group E) and were defeated 4-1.
Saint Louis, on the other hand, will enter the match after having a rocky end to its regular season. Unlike Hartford, out of Saint Louisâ final six games, theyâve only won half of them. And in those games, their opponents nearly came back towards the very end. If it werenât for its 2-1 win against Indy Eleven, Indy wouldâve been the team facing Hartford. Saint Louis FC arenât necessarily the favorites to win this quarterfinal match and their 1-3-2 away record seems to further back that statement. Saint Louis has only played one match against a team from Group F, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, where they drew 2-2.
The only issue Hartford will have Saturday is not having Tyreke Johnson in the squad after being recalled by Southampton on Thursday. Johnsonâs been essential to Radhi JaĂŻdiâs side after starting 11 of the 15 games he played and scoring once, but itâs possible that his place can be replaced with Gabriel Torres or a potential return of Harry Swartz in the starting squad. I can see Radhi JaĂŻdi playing a 3-5-2 formation, as contesting the midfield usually seemed to have worked for Hartford. I wouldnât be surprised if JaĂŻdi plays a 5-3-2 formation, because itâs a new team theyâre facing. So, he probably wouldnât want to risk letting Saint Louis getting clinical finishes.
In the USLâs tier list for the teams in the playoffs, they placed Hartford in the âlongshotsâ category. To that, I say theyâre more of the dark horses in the playoffs, at least, in the Eastern Conference. As I said earlier, Hartford had a massive glow-up this season compared to last, and all it took was getting its feet wet in the league while obtaining a coach with Premier League standards. The players themselves have shown their strength as this season progressed. Even with signings during the season of Justin Haak and Idan Cohen, they were quick to settle in and play as if they were in the squad all along. Itâs clear that the teamâs chemistry has potential to take the Boys in Green far.