After five of its last seven games on the road, Phoenix Rising enters the final third of the season.
Phoenix Rising FC Match Preview Presented by Mayo Clinic
Phoenix Rising FC (6-7-8) hosts the Tampa Bay Rowdies (11-6-4) this Saturday at 8:00 p.m. at Phoenix Rising Stadium. The match will be broadcast on Arizona’s Family Sports and available for streaming on CBS Sports’ Golazo Network.
Rising has spent most of the summer away from home, with five of its last seven games being played outside of Phoenix. During that period, the club has slipped to two points outside of the playoff bubble. However, the team’s last win came in its most recent home match, and Rising will look to build on the energy of the stadium this Saturday to make progress up the Western Conference standings.
On the other side of the pitch, Tampa Bay sits comfortably in third place, boasting one of the strongest attacking cores in the league, led by the familiar face of Manuel Arteaga, who has found the back of the net 12 times this season.
“[Tampa Bay] is a very high-pressing team with a lot of quality on top — very good players that can hold up play, that are dangerous, and also very strong players that can come off the bench — so I think it’s a very complete team,” said Interim Head Coach Diego Gomez. “We expect a team that is going to pressure us very high, and it’s going to be key for us to get out of the pressure with the ball and to attack the spaces.”
The Rowdies have tallied 39 goals in 2024, while Phoenix Rising has managed just 21. Inconsistency in the attacking third, both from a production and personnel standpoint with players in and out of the lineup due to injury, has been an issue for Rising. The club hopes to resolve this with the signing of forward Tomas Angel, who joined the team from LAFC and made his debut this past weekend.
“It’s an organization where last year they were champions, and I like those teams that have goals to reach and play in finals. That complements me as a player and a person because I have a lot of ambition and resilience. I think it’s a nice task for me to help the team with my experience and to score some goals,” said Angel. “I wish to score not one, but two or three goals [Saturday].”
Conceding just one goal in its last two matches, Rising feels that when the goals finally come, the results will follow. With 13 games remaining this season, there is plenty of time for Rising to make a playoff push. Tickets are available now for this Saturday’s match at phxrisingfc.com/tickets, starting at just $15.
