Las Vegas Lights FC vs San Antonio - Friday Game Preview

After (yet another) week off, the Lights have (yet another) home game this weekend. But this time, instead of the traditional Saturday night game, we get a game on a Friday night.

That's significant not only because it disrupts those of us who are locked into our routines, but also because it was moved to Friday for a reason - it's the Lights' first regular season game that will be on *national TV.

*Disclaimer - Because it's USL, "national TV" doesn't actually mean TV, it just means that it's going to stream on ESPN3 this week.

Either way, because it's going to be "broadcast" on ESPN, hopefully the team will make its way in front a few more eyes this weekend then it normally does. It's a good chance to inspire a bit more buzz and interest around the club, and hopefully grab a few more fans from places that otherwise might not get exposed to the team.

But in order to do that, the Lights need to make sure they put in an inspirational performance tomorrow.

They are up against San Antonio tomorrow. San Antonio were a really good team last season, finishing on 62 points and in second place in the western conference. This year... not so much. They swept up in pre-season, but as we've certainly learned from the Lights this year, pre-season form does not necessarily correlate with regular season performance. San Antonio have started off this year with an uninspiring 6 points from 7 games, with their only win coming in the second game of the season. And so far they've only managed to score 4 goals, while conceding 7.

However, there's a decent chance that their start to the season isn't really reflective of who they are. As I said earlier, they were 2nd in the conference last season. And while they've struggled to score this season, it hasn't been for lack of opportunities. They've managed to take 58 shots, and put 29 of those on target. It's just that they are almost last in the league in converting their chances, sitting at 8%. They are decent passers of the ball too - in about the top third of the league.

So, the Lights should feel confident going into this one. We're at home, we've had a two-week break, and we have gotten to a great start. But we can't feel too confident and underestimate a team that just a few short months ago was challenging for first place in the conference.

Finally, on Friday, keep an eye on our man Carlos Alvarez. I pointed him out in my last post as one of the stand-out players of the season. He's the man our attack really runs through, and he's going to have some extra incentive this time around. In 2016, in San Antonio's inaugural USL season, Carlos was San Antonio's first ever signing, and picked up five goals in thirty appearances for the team. He left the very next season, but now he gets to see some old faces (and hopefully put in a performance that makes them regret letting him go).

Here's to three points on Friday.

-VSB