Gotham FC vs Washington Spirit preview: The ghosts of playoffs past | OneFootball

After a mixed bag of results on the west coast, NJ/NY Gotham FC will head back east to visit the Washington Spirit. This is the third and final game of a three-game road trip that saw the team travel across the country in eight days.

As mentioned earlier, the previous two results out west left Gotham fans with mixed feelings. Things started incredibly well with a 4-0 win over Angel City FC, handing the Los Angeles side its first loss of the season. Then, just four days later, the NJ/NY side followed that up with a 4-1 loss to Portland Thorns FC off the back of a really poor second half. While fatigue may have played a factor, given Gotham's limited roster rotation caused by injuries and certain players being on a minutes limit, this does not fully excuse some of the sloppy play and poor execution on Tuesday. The team knows that performance was not good enough, and fans should expect some sort of response on Saturday against Washington.

Meanwhile, Washington is coming off three straight clean sheet wins, with the most recent coming away to the Orlando Pride by a score of 1-0. The Spirit is dealing with their own lengthy list of injuries, most notably including Trinity Rodman, Ouleymata Sarr, Croix Bethune, and Andi Sullivan. Still, they have been able to deal with these absences remarkably well, with four wins and just one loss in their first five games of the season.

It will be interesting to see how Gotham FC approaches this game from a lineup perspective. Do they mostly run it back for the third game in a row? Or will they have more options at their disposal that allow for a more changed lineup? Time will tell, but either way, expect this team to try and show that that Portland game was a one-off and get back to the standard they've set over the last two seasons. Here is a preview of Saturday's match against the Washington Spirit.

Gotham FC vs Washington Spirit preview

Date

Gotham FC will play the Washington Spirit on Saturday, April 26.

Time

The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM ET.

How to watch

The match will be broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.

Location

The game will be played at Audi Field in Washington D.C., the nation's capital.

Weather

It would not be a game involving Washington or Gotham without some weather concerns. There is around a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms at kickoff, with that threat dropping throughout the match. Temperatures will also be around 75 degrees with 65%-70% humidity and 10-12 mph winds.

Injury report

Ryan Campbell (shoulder), Sofia Cook (thigh), Tierna Davidson (SEI - knee), Shelby Hogan (D45 - thumb), Rose Lavelle (ankle), and Mandy Freeman (hip) are not available. Additionally, Ella Stevens (back) is questionable

Players to watch

With players like Rodman, Sarr, and potentially Ashley Hatch missing this game, new signing Gift Monday looks to be in line for a start on Saturday and someone to watch. Monday arrived in Washington on deadline day back in March and has only played in two games so far for the Spirit. However, she made her first start last week against Orlando and ultimately scored the game-winning goal. This looks to be another sneaky good Spirit signing, and with the club missing a lot of their usual starting attackers, Monday could be a key player moving forward.

While Esther González has rightfully garnered all of the headlines for Gotham FC this season, Ella Stevens has gone under the radar. After being limited to just 45 minutes over the last two matches with a back injury, Stevens will hopefully be back in the starting lineup against Washington, making her someone to watch. And after having a similarly slow start in her first season with the Bats in 2024, it was around this time last season that she started to find her goal-scoring form. Stevens becoming a true secondary scorer behind Esther will be crucial for Gotham's success moving forward.

Prediction

Expect a closely fought game despite Gotham FC being on shorter rest. A 1-1 score is the prediction with Monday for Washington and Stevens for Gotham scoring the goals for their respective teams. Regardless of the result, expect the visitors to put in a better showing than Tuesday in Portland. Many fans may even forgive them for losing this game, given the disadvantageous circumstances they face compared to Washington, as long as the performance is back to the level and standard they had set in their first five games of the season.