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Bethlehem Steel FC will look to build on a promising win last week against Richmond in a fixture against the Charleston Battery today at 3:00 PM. After an impressive team outing in what many people have decided was their best effort to date, Brendan Burke and his team will try and shock another USL mainstay when Atlanta United affiliate Charleston Battery visit Goodman Stadium.
Charleston has put together a strong season so far in the log-jammed Eastern Conference. Starting the year off with a last gasp win, they went on an undefeated streak of three games before dropping three points to Charlotte last week. Defense is the key for Charleston. Taylor Mueller and Shawn Ferguson are the anchors for this Battery team, logging 360 minutes each this season. Romario Williams is one in a very long list of attacking players in the USL from Jamaica that can put goals in net seemingly at will. He has three goals in four matches, and the former UCF Knight and Montreal Impact draft pick could prove troublesome for the generally solid Steel defense.
On the Bethlehem side of things, it looks like we might see the same 4-3-3 as last week. I'm not really sure that I would switch up the midfield three of Eric Ayuk, Derrick Jones and Bolu Akinyode that was so fruitful for you last week, even with the return of James Chambers. Defensively I'm not sure. Jim Curtin was able to play Josh Yaro yesterday against David Villa and New York City FC, so he will be unavailable to play today for BSFC. For Brendan Burke, that means Auston Trusty and Mickey Daly are going to start at the center of the defense. That pairing played great last week, suffocating an otherwise potent Richmond Kickers team.
Offensively if the forward three can find a way to contribute a bit more to the attack, Bethlehem would really be able to put the game into their own hands. Gabe Gissie and Seku Conneh look like they're ready to open up their scoring accounts, and a staunch Charleston team would be the best place to start.
Go watch the game Sunday at three on YouTube here or on TV2 in the Lehigh Valley. Follow myself right here, and make sure to join in on the weekly BSFC takeover of the Brotherly Game twitter here.