Watch Live: Detroit City FC vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(CBS DETROIT) - Detroit City FC is set to open its 2024 USL Championship season, the club's third in the league, on the road to Western Conference foes Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Saturday night at Weidner Field.
Saturday night's match will be the first under newly named head coach Danny Dichio. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET.
While there is a new face on the touchline for 2024, there are also eight new faces part of the Le Rouge squad as the club welcomed in Ali Coote, Alex Villanueva, Elvis Amoh, Carlos Saldaña, Matt Sheldon, James Murphy, Ryan Williams, and Daniel Espeleta into the fold this off-season as the club looks to build on a 2023 season which saw an elimination in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
This season, Detroit City FC will look to improve on a league-worst goalscoring form in 2023, only finding the back of the net on 31 occasions in 34 matches. Le Rouge took part in 14 1-0 matches last season with a record of 5-9 when the game only had one goal in it, showing signs of a strong defense. To that end, Detroit City FC conceded the fifth least goals in the league with 43 in 2023 en route to 12 clean sheets, the fourth most.
Le Rouge is looking to win on opening night for the first time since joining the USL Championship ahead of the 2022 season, the last two years have seen 1-0 losses to San Antonio FC and San Diego Loyal SC, both away matches.
To get three points, Detroit City FC will be looking for a similar performance to their win at Weidner Field in 2022 which saw goals from Deklan Wynne and Maxi Rodriguez.
When these two sides met at a rainy, soaked Keyworth Stadium at the tail end of the 2023 season, Switchbacks FC came out on top 3-0 with goals from Juan Tejada and Romario Williams (2).
Switchbacks FC already has one USL Championship match under their belt this season, starting play on March 9th with a road trip to The Miami FC. In a match in which the Switchbacks saw 62% possession and won the shot battle (21 to 10). Miami FC came out on top at Ricardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida in a 2-0 scoreline with early and late goals coming for the hosts.
First-year head coach James Chambers coaches Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
Following their trip out west, Detroit City FC returns home for its 2024 Home Opener, when the club welcomes Loudoun United of the Eastern Conference to Keyworth Stadium on March 23. Tickets for the Home Opener are available here.
For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram. ##DCFC##
CBS News Detroit is the official broadcast partner of Detroit City FC. This story is reprinted with permission from Detroit City FC.
