Match Preview: Angel City vs Chicago Red Stars | 9.1.24

Sunday, September 1, at 1:00 p.m., Angel City is back at home against the Chicago Red Stars, their first regular-season home game since July 6. The match will be broadcast over the air on CBS and will stream on Paramount+ (version with local live CBS access). An English-language radio broadcast will be available on iHeart.

Matchup

Angel City’s last regular-season game was a 2–1 win on the road against San Diego Wave FC on August 24. Forward Alyssa Thompson notched a brace for Angel City, with Wave defender Abby Dahlkemper scoring a late consolation goal for the hosts.

Chicago’s last game was a 1–3 loss on the road to Racing Louisville. Midfielder Jameese Joseph had the goal for the Red Stars.

The two teams last met in Chicago on April 13, a 1–0 Angel City win following an own goal by Red Stars defender Maxi Rall.

LA has a 2–2–1 (W–L–D) all-time record against Chicago.

The Red Stars are currently in seventh place with a 7–8–2 record; Angel City are in ninth with a 5–9–3 record.

Scouting Report

Chicago’s leading scorer is forward Mallory Swanson, who just returned from a gold medal-winning Olympic campaign with the US Women’s National Team. Swanson was a key player at the games, scoring four total goals, including the game-winner in the final against Brazil. The 26-year-old is having a standout season for the Red Stars, too, where she’s notched three assists and seven goals—the latter of which puts her in fifth place in the Golden Boot race.

Red Stars Head Coach Lorne Donaldson has also made some strong additions to his roster since they last faced Angel City. At the top of that list is Canada international Julia Grosso, a technical attacking midfielder who recorded nine goals in 50 appearances for Juventus, helping the team win the Italian Supercoppa twice. Grosso also scored the final penalty kick in Canada’s 2021 Olympic shootout against Sweden to win the gold medal. Whether as a scorer or a creator, Grosso will add quality to the Chicago midfield.

Also new to the Red Stars is Ludmila, a Brazilian international who scored 59 goals in 137 appearances for her last club, Atlético Madrid. 

Neck and Neck

Six out of Angel City’s nine remaining regular-season games are against teams currently in playoff position: Chicago, Louisville, Portland, Washington, and North Carolina. Angel City sits just one spot out of the playoffs in ninth.

Every game matters when it comes to the team’s hopes of making the playoffs for a second year in a row, but with Chicago and Louisville in seventh and eighth—five points and one ahead of Angel City, respectively—those two matches are especially big opportunities to climb the standings.

A Bracing Win

Last week, forward Alyssa Thompson opened her 2024 account with a brace against San Diego on the road. The pair of goals was Thompson’s first for Angel City, and marked just the second time a teenager had scored multiple goals in a regular-season NWSL game. The first player to accomplish that feat? Chicago star Mallory Swanson.

Although Thompson hadn’t managed to get on the score sheet until last weekend, she’d been contributing in other ways, including recording five assists, tied for fourth-most league wide with Kansas City’s Vanessa DiBernardo.

With forward Messiah Bright earning a hat trick in the team’s August 18 friendly against FC Juárez, signs point to ACFC finding their scoring form as we head into the final stretch of the regular season.