One month into the USL Championship regular season, there are some usual suspects near the top of the scoring charts.
Even with its first loss of the season ending a perfect start on Saturday evening, Louisville City’s at the top of the list, while the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Charleston Battery and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC are all putting up good underlying numbers.
One side that might surprise you in that top five, though, is Indy Eleven, which has been putting together strong attacking displays so far, even if the full reward hasn’t arrived yet. Saturday’s clash against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC saw the side concede late for a second consecutive outing, leaving points on the table in a 1-1 draw.
The underlying numbers for the Boys in Blue have been good, however, with the side sitting on an 8.32 Expected Goals mark through four games as returnees like Bruno Rendón and new arrivals like Loïc Mesanvi make an impact.
“Bruno has had a great start to the season,” said Indy Head Coach Sean McAuley on Saturday. “You can see what Loïc brings us as a relatively unknown player that we got a hold of. I’ve known him for a few years, and he’s got, he’s got really good quality, and he can threaten the opponent with the pace. Once he gets past people, he picks the pass out.”
Mesanvi hasn’t found the net yet in the league, but he has made an impact off the dribble and in the final third, completing 3.38 progressive carries and 31.72 touches in the final third per 90 minutes. As with other parts of Indy’s attack – which has only five goals in league play – it’s not fully come together quite yet, but the potential to succeed has been on display.
For a side that missed out on the postseason a year ago, the early returns are showing promise and a potential return to contention.
Here are this week’s rankings.