Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
In the early hours of Monday, September 30, another USL Championship regular-season match will take place. At 00:00 Central European Time, Oakland Roots will face Tulsa. The Dailysports analysts have prepared a forecast for this matchup.
Oakland Roots
The team from the Western Conference of the USL Championship currently sits in sixth place in the standings. They have played 29 matches, accumulating 40 points. The gap to second place is not large—just five points. With five matches left in the regular season, Oakland still has a chance to climb higher. However, the team's current form is far from ideal.
They are on a three-game losing streak, including a crushing 0-5 defeat in one of those games. While they still have a cushion over the ninth-place team, as the top eight qualify for the playoffs, they need to improve their form to avoid allowing direct competitors to close the gap or risk dropping in the standings.
Tulsa
Tulsa also plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship. Unlike Oakland Roots, Tulsa has a game in hand. Currently, they have 31 points from 28 matches and are in tenth place in the standings. The gap to the playoff zone is just five points. However, Tulsa clearly needs to improve their performances.
In the last five matches, they have not won a single game, and they have scored no more than one goal in each of these matches. Only three teams in the Western Conference have scored fewer goals than Tulsa. Additionally, their defense has been problematic, with 41 goals conceded, the second-worst record in the conference.
Match Facts
- Both teams are winless in their last five matches.
- Oakland Roots could qualify for the USL playoffs for the first time in their history.
Probable Lineups
- Oakland Roots: Blanchette; Rasmussen, Diaz, Hekschow, Margelashvili; Baca, Gomez, Castillo, Donasiyano, Nje; Rodriguez.
- Tulsa: Peñaranda; Damm, Bourgeois, Sigrist, Souha; Booth, Ramos, Youssef, Bettache, Stojanovic; Bibout.
Head-to-Head
- In their previous meeting, Oakland Roots won 1-0.
Prediction
Both teams are currently in poor form, with neither Oakland Roots nor Tulsa winning in their last five games. Clearly, both sides will be eager to break this streak, and both have the motivation to start earning points again. I believe this will be a key factor, and I expect both teams to score in this game. The odds for this outcome are 1.71.
