Racing v Gotham -1

Gotham comes to town on Friday in first place and in pretty mediocre form. Racing is in worse form obviously, but these Racing/Gotham matches always seem to be close. Both teams have three victories against the other, with a draw being just as likely based on history.

Racing will certainly be short in the midfield with Hodge suspended and Flint's status unknown at this time. If Racing is going to be down a couple of players in the midfield, it almost certainly means that a player listed as a forward will drop into the midfield. McKeen found herself in this spot recently, but with her gone there aren't too many options. Fusco is probably too new to slot in as a starter. Personally, I hate Fischer in the midfield, but Racing has gone that route before with less than stellar results even when her performances were decent. She had her worst statistical performance of the season in the 1-0 loss at Gotham when she played in the 10 role, so I don't think it serves her well to put her there again.

Racing has had a DeMelo-sized hole in the midfield since she began her long-term absence. What Sav's talent may have disguised has now been on display ever since. Racing doesn't have a reliable engine to run a disciplined attack and the goals that this team scores are opportunistic rather than manufactured. The good news is that Gotham is the type of team that can be caught out by the type of attacks that Racing excels at. The bad news is that if Gotham gets a lead they are the type of team that can grind out a 1-0 win through possession without breaking a sweat.

This feels like a match that Gotham either wins easily or snatches at the end due to Racing likely having to defend in their own half for large sections of the match.