PREVIEW | Rowdies vs. Silverbacks

The Basics
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Atlanta Silverbacks
Saturday, July 4, at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.
The match can be seen live on Great38 WTTA in the Tampa Bay area and online at ESPN3.com.

Records (W-T-L)
Tampa Bay: 0-0-0, 0 points Fall, T-1st Place; 5-4-1 Combined, 19 points, 2nd place
Atlanta: 0-0-0, 0 points Fall, T-1st Place; 1-5-4, 8 points, T-10th place

Series History
The Rowdies are 7-6-3 (W-T-L) against the Atlanta Silverbacks since 2011, including a 4-3-2 mark at Al Lang Stadium. Tampa Bay and Atlanta have met only once this season, a 3-0 Rowdies win in the Spring Season finale on June 13 at Al Lang Stadium. Corey Hertzog, Martin Nuñez and Georgi Hristov all scored in the match and Matt Pickens kept his third clean sheet of the Spring.

Rowdies Notes
After falling just short of winning the NASL Spring Season, finishing one point behind the New York Cosmos, the Rowdies made no roster changes ahead of the Fall Season. The Rowdies had a little time off during the break and got back into the rhythm of playing matches with a scrimmage against the Haitian National Team on Monday. Tampa Bay and Haiti were tied 2-2 after 90 minutes of the scrimmage before Haiti scored twice in the final half hour to win 4-2.

The upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup will have an effect on this match, with Rowdies midfielder Richard Menjivar away with the El Salvador National Team and Atlanta goalkeeper Steward Ceus away with Haiti.

A few stats point toward a successful weekend for the Rowdies. In 2015, Tampa Bay is unbeaten at Al Lang Stadium (4-1-0, W-T-L) and unbeaten when playing on natural grass (5-2-0.) If the Rowdies score first, that’s another good sign, as Tampa Bay has won all five matches in which it has scored first.

Scouting Atlanta
In its first season under head coach Gary Smith, Atlanta started the season with a five-match unbeaten streak, but slipped to the bottom of the NASL Spring Season Standings after losing four of its last five matches. Just like in their visit to close the Spring Season, the Silverbacks arrive in St. Petersburg as one of the lowest scoring teams in the league, with just seven goals in 10 matches this year. Shaka Bangura leads the team with two goals, despite having not scored since April 18.

Forward Jaime Chavez is suspended for this match after receiving a double yellow card against the Rowdies on June 13.

Atlanta made a few transactions this week, announcing the signings of defenders Kosuke Kimura & Abdul Bangura and the retirement of Fabrice Gautrat. Kimura was a member of the 2010 MLS Cup winning Colorado Rapids team that also featured Rowdies goalkeeper Matt Pickens and Atlanta goalkeeper Steward Ceus. That team was coached by current  Atlanta Head Coach Gary Smith.