Racing Louisville FC and the Chicago Red Stars rematch Wednesday under some special circumstances.

The clubs will write the second chapter of a budding National Women’s Soccer League rivalry as part of the second half of The Women’s Cup doubleheader at Lynn Family Stadium.

It’s a heck of an opening act, with FC Bayern Munich facing off with Paris Saint-Germain at 5 p.m. Racing hosts Chicago in a 7:30 p.m. nightcap.

The ladies in lavender will play for more than the three points they claimed last time against Chicago in a 3-0 away victory back on June 26. Winner of Wednesday’s game will play either Bayern or PSG in The Women’s Cup final on Saturday, with the loser going on to a third-place game.

Should Racing-Chicago end in a draw at full time, they’ll get their usual NWSL points before letting a penalty kick shootout determine a tournament result.

Here’s more of what to watch for Wednesday…

Follow along

For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @RacingLouFC on Twitter and Racing Louisville FC on Facebook. Also find us at @racinglouisvillefc on Instagram.

Watch the match on Paramount+ with play by play from Mike Watts and color commentary by Marion Crowder. Internationally, fans can also stream the match on Twitch. 

Notes to know

High-profile visitors: Bayern’s women, making their first visit stateside, are in preseason off winning Germany’s 2020-2021 Frauen-Bundesliga title. PSG likewise won France’s recent Division 1 Féminine title, unseating Lyon after finishing as the runner-up eight straight years. Both were also UEFA Champions League finalists in 2021.

Tight timing: Racing and Chicago are both facing quick turnarounds Wednesday after playing Sunday. Louisville played NJ/NY Gotham FC to a 1-1 away draw, while the Red Stars were shut out on a trip to play the NC Courage by a 1-0 score. Wednesday’s game is the second of five in 15 days for the ladies in lavender amid the most congested stretch of their season.

Chicago’s question marks: The Red Stars, founding members of the NWSL back in 2013, have built a star-studded roster likely to be down two key pieces. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher suffered a knee injury at the Tokyo Olympics, while Julie Ertz has nursed an MCL ailment dating back to May. While Ertz played in the Olympics, she is reportedly not heading to Louisville.

Playoff picture: With 15 points earned through 13 games, Racing is five points off sixth place on the NWSL table, also known a the postseason cut line. The NWSL has yet to see an expansion club make the playoffs after the Houston Dash totaled 18 points upon entering the league in 2014 and Orlando tallied 19 points in 2016.

Scoring trends: Racing is 4-0-2 when scoring first in its inaugural season but 0-6-0 when conceding first — plus the club was shut out in each of those instances. The Gotham draw represented the first time Louisville scored in back-to-back games following a 3-1 victory Aug. 8 over fellow expansion side Kansas City.

Red Stars revenge: Forwards Yuki Nagasato and Savannah McCaskill, traded to Louisville last fall in exchange for Chicago’s roster protection in the 2020 expansion draft, played with motivation in that June meeting. Both scored their only goals so far this season on a rain-soaked afternoon at SeatGeek Stadium.

Nadim’s milestone: With her 13th-minute tap-in Sunday at Gotham FC, forward Nadia Nadim made it two goals in as many games for her new club. Bigger picture it marked her 30th NWSL regular season goal. Nadim hit the milestone in 64 appearances. Only, U.S. internationals Christen Press (48), Megan Rapinoe (57), Amy Rodriguez (61) and Kim Little (62) did so faster.

A Salmon dish: Racing’s scoring leader, Ebony Salmon, once again found herself contributing to a goal Sunday. This time she played a different role, dishing across the face of goal to Nadim to complete a solid team buildup and register her first NWSL assist. Salmon has also scored four goals in nine league appearances so far.

Betos’ workload: Racing’s captain and goalkeeper, Michelle Betos, has been instrumental this season, leading the NWSL with 68 saves. However, on Sunday the club showed its progress in forcing Betos to make just two saves en route to a draw. That total was second-lowest this season only to the lone save Betos made in a 1-1 away draw to the Orlando Pride on July 9.

Injury report

• Addisyn Merrick – Out
• Julia Ashley – Questionable
• Katie McClure – Questionable

Milestone watch

Michelle Betos is one shutout away from her 15th NWSL regular season clean sheet and would be one of seven players to earn that stat. 

Cheyna Matthews is one appearance away from her 65th in NWSL regular season play.

Yuki Nagasato is one goal away from her 15th in the NWSL regular season.

The Women’s Cup, an inaugural tournament to be played this week at Lynn Family Stadium, will feature National Women’s Soccer League members Racing Louisville FC and the Chicago Red Stars as well as FC Bayern Munich from the Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany and Paris Saint-Germain Féminine from Division 1 Féminine in France.

The four-game tournament kicks off with a bang at 5 p.m. Wednesday when PSG and Bayern — both UEFA Champions League finalists in 2021 — meet. Racing hosts Chicago to cap a doubleheader. A 6 p.m. Saturday final will follow the 3 p.m. third-place game.

Tickets remain available at TheWomensCup.world. A day’s ticket is good to see both games of the doubleheader.

Those who can’t make it to Lynn Family Stadium can live stream the broadcast via Paramount+.

The Women’s Cup marks the first time Bayern’s women’s side has traveled to play in the United States, while PSG appeared in the 2018 Women’s International Champions Cup in Miami. Those two clubs last met in the opening round of the 2019 Women’s French Cup, a preseason tournament held in Toulouse, France. PSG topped Bayern 2-1.

Chicago and Louisville — a 2021 NWSL expansion side — have met just once.  Racing prevailed in a rain-soaked June 26 away game when former Red Stars Yuki Nagasato and Savannah McCaskill both scored as part of a 3-0 victory.

Should any of The Women’s Cup four matches be tied after 90 minutes, they will go straight to penalty kicks.

Let’s meet the participants…

FC Bayern Munich

The women’s side of FC Bayern Munich launched in 1970 and has played in the top-flight Frauen-Bundesliga since its creation in 1990. The team is coming off a 2020-2021 Frauen-Bundesliga title.

A run to the Champions League semifinals also marked Bayern’s deepest since 2019. The squad beat Ajax, BIIK Kazygurt, and FC Rosengard before losing to eventual runners-up Chelsea.

Bayern is led by coach Jens Scheuer. The team is bringing back 17 of 23 players from last year’s title-winning season, including Swedish international and Olympic silver medalist Hanna Glas. Lea Schüller, who led the team with 16 goals in 20 matches, also returns.

Bayern already won the 2021 Women’s French Cup during its preseason, defeating women’s powerhouse Lyon 4-2 in the semifinal Aug. 4 before outscoring Roma 4-0 for the title two days later. The squad will kick off its next Frauen-Bundesliga campaign vs. Werder Bremen on Aug. 29

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Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain Féminine was founded in 1971 and has played in Division 1 Féminine since 2001. PSG won its first Division 1 title last season after spending eight seasons as the runners-up to Lyon. The club has also been a Champions League runner-up twice, in 2014-2015 and 2016-2017, before returning to the semifinals last season only to be eliminated by eventual winner Barcelona.

Since winning the league title, manager Olivier Échouafni departed from the team, and it was announced July 6 that Didier Ollé Nicolle would be his replacement. Nicolle previously managed Le Mans FC in the French third division.

PSG is bringing back some of its biggest names, including Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Huitema of Canada and leading scorer Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who netted 21 goals for the club last season. However, the club has also had some notable departures, including Danish international Nadia Nadim, Brazilian star Formiga and starting goalkeeper Christiane Endler, who appeared in every match for PSG last season.

During its current preseason, PSG lost both matches of the 2021 Women’s French Cup, dropping the first game to Roma 2-1 on Aug. 4 and the second to Lyon 5-1 on Aug. 6. PSG will kick off its regular season Aug. 29 against Fleury 91.

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Chicago Red Stars

A founding member of the NWSL, the Chicago Red Stars have appeared in the league playoffs five times. The squad made its first league championship appearance in 2019, ultimately losing to the North Carolina Courage in the final. The Red Stars also were the runners-up to the 2020 Challenge Cup champion Houston Dash.

This season, Chicago is currently occupying the fifth spot on the NWSL table with a record of 6-7-2. The team is coming off Sunday’s 1-0 loss at the North Carolina Courage.

The Red Stars are led by head coach Rory Dames. The team’s veteran goalkeeper, Alyssa Naeher, is out after suffering a right knee injury representing Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics’ semifinals last month. The Red Stars also had to overcome the loss of U.S. international star Julie Ertz, who sustained a knee injury in May and is awaiting her return for Chicago after playing in the Olympics.

Midfielder Morgan Gautrat and forward Mallory Pugh have stepped up, both making the NWSL’s Team of the Month in July. Pugh is the team’s leading scorer with three goals through 13 matches so far this season.

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Racing Louisville FC

The Women’s Cup coincides with the busiest part of the expansion side’s inaugural season. Racing’s two Cup matches mark the second and third games in a 15-day span, which kicked off Sunday at NJ/NY Gotham FC.

The club is currently 4-6-3 and sits in ninth place in the NWSL standings with 11 matches left to go in the regular season. However, Racing has seen a recent burst in momentum following the mid-season acquisition of English internationals Ebony Salmon and Gemma Bonner along with the high-profile arrival of midfielder Nadim from PSG. Since her arrival in June, Salmon has netted four goals in eight games, making her the team’s leading scorer.

Louisville is coming off a 1-1 draw at Gotham following a 3-1 win at home against Kansas City on Aug. 8.

Despite the challenges of being a newly-formed expansion team, Racing is on track to become the most successful expansion in NWSL history, after earning 15 points through 13 games so far this season.

Racing is led by head coach Christy Holly and captain and veteran goalkeeper Michelle Betos.

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Nadia Nadim scored for the second time in as many games Sunday, and that proved enough for Racing Louisville FC to walk away from its latest away contest with a point.

The 2021 NWSL expansion club played NJ/NY Gotham FC to a 1-1 draw at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., picking up a bit more momentum at the right time of year.

The ladies in lavender entered off a victory last weekend over Kansas City and made Sunday’s game the first of five in 15 days. The schedule congestion continues with a rare midseason opportunity to win a trophy via The Women’s Cup, an inaugural tournament welcoming FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain to Louisville.

“We started out great and kind of lost our way a little bit,” Racing coach Christy Holly said Sunday. “…Coming to Gotham and taking a point away from home from one of the top teams in the league — it’s really a reflection on where we are and where we’re going. But we do have to pin things up and make sure we don’t concede goals in the latter part of the game.”

At about the same time Bayern and PSG put wheels down in the Derby City, Nadim netted her 30th NWSL regular-season goal. The Danish international finished a 13th-minute cross from fellow forward Ebony Salmon, completing a nice bit of team buildup in transition.

According to NWSL statistician Jen Cooper, Nadim is the fifth-fastest player to reach the 30-goal milestone, doing so in 64 appearances. Only Christen Press (48 games), Megan Rapinoe (57), Amy Rodriguez (61) and Kim Little (62) accomplished the feat earlier.

Nadim’s goal — or any sort of Racing conversion — was deserved amid an early flurry for the visitors.

In the seventh minute, Salmon recovered a half clearance near the top of the box and launched a shot off the cross bar. A minute later, Nadim had a header saved. And in the 26th, Gotham FC goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan came off her line to deny a point-black try by Salmon.

“It’s a good start with the goal,” Nadim said, “but then we have to be calm with the ball. We want to be a winning team, and a draw is not good enough.” 

Sheridan was making her first club appearance since winning a gold medal with Canada at the Tokyo Olympics. Another Gotham FC standout stole the show in the second half.

Ifeoma Onumonu, who had been a menace for Racing’s back line seemingly all game, equalized in the 83rd minute when she received the ball with her back to goal, turned and rifled in a shot.

“I think Gotham made adjustments,” said Racing defender Emily Fox. “I think they were kind of shocked in the first half, but they obviously made adjustments to it, and they’re a great team. They’re in third place for a reason. We’re obviously disappointed with a tie… but we’re going to go back home, have conversations.

“We play five games in 15 days so we need to move on, learn from our mistakes and keep going.” 

Both sides were efficient to get a goal, with Racing managing three shots on target and Gotham FC two. The clubs were similarly even on most other areas across the stat sheet.

With the point, Racing improved to 4-6-3. The ladies in lavender still sit ninth on the table but are only four points out of a playoff spot and hold a game in hand on most rivals higher in the standings.

Next, Racing is on to the aforementioned The Women’s Cup, hosting the Chicago Red Stars at 7:30 p.m. It’s the back half of a Lynn Family Stadium doubleheader beginning with Bayern vs. PSG at 5 p.m. The final and third-place game follow on Saturday.

Game Summary: NJ/NY Gotham FC vs. Racing Louisville FC

Venue: Red Bull Arena

Kickoff: 5 p.m.

Weather: 81 degrees, partly cloudy

Player of the Match: Nadia Nadim

Attendance: 2,200

Scoring

NJ/NY Gotham FC (0, 1, 1)

Racing Louisville FC (1, 0, 1)

Goals

Gotham:

83’ Onumonu (Kawasumi)

Racing Louisville:

13’ Nadim (Salmon)

Stats Summary: Gotham FC / Racing Louisville

Shots: 11 / 10

Shots on Goal: 2 / 4

Fouls: 6 / 9

Offside: 5 / 3

Corner Kicks: 4 / 0

Saves: 3 / 2

Lineups

NJ/NY Gotham FC: 1 – Kailen Sheridan, 24 – Estelle Johnson, 12 – Gina Lewandowski, 8 – Erica Skroski, 27 – Gaetane Thiney (45’ 11 – Lee So-Dam), 19 – Elizabeth Eddy (77’ 9 – Nahomi Kawasumi), 3 – Caprice Dydasco, 16 – Allie Long, 7 – McCall Zerboni (66’ 6 – Jennifer Cudjoe), 25 – Ifeoma Onumonu, 18 – Delanie Sheehan (66’ 2 – Brianna Pinto)

Subs not used: 15 – Sabrina Flores, 5 – Nicole Baxter, 13 – DiDi Haracic, 14 – Kenie Wright, 17 – Domi Richardson

Racing Louisville FC: 1 – Michelle Betos, 4 – Gemma Bonner, 3 – Erin Simon (61’ 12 – Sinclaire Miramontez), 18 – Kaleigh Riehl, 11 – Emily Fox, 7 – Savannah McCaskill, 5 – Cece Kizer (86’ 13 – Emina Ekic), 8 – Freja Olofsson, 10 – Nadia Nadim, 17 – Yuki Nagasato (73’ 2 – Lauren Milliet), 9 – Ebony Salmon (61’ 20 – Cheyna Matthews)

Subs not used: 16 – Julia Ashley, 19 – Taylor Otto, 22 – Katie McClure, 14 – Nealy Martin, 23 – Katie Lund

Discipline Summary

Racing:

67’ Bonner (yellow)

90+6’ Riehl (yellow)

Referee: Brad Jensen

Assistant Referees: Tyler Wyrostek, Ian Mangione

Fourth Official: Jennifer Dumaine

Racing Louisville FC has gained momentum at the right time.

The club — amid its busiest stretch of the season — will play five games in 15 days, starting with Sunday’s 5 p.m. away kickoff against NJ/NY Gotham FC at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

Racing enters off last weekend’s 3-1 win over fellow NWSL expansion side Kansas City as its offense clicked. Ebony Salmon put her team-leading fourth goal in the back of the net, while forwards Nadia Nadim and Cheyna Matthews scored their first goals in lavender.

Gotham, which had a strong first half to its regular season, sits third on the NWSL table and will test that Louisville attack. The club has conceded the second-fewest goals of any team in the league behind table-topping Portland Thorns FC.

The former Sky Blue FC features a trio of U.S. internationals in Carli Lloyd, Margaret Purce and Allie Long. Purce, however, missed a recent loss to the NC Courage with a quad injury, and Lloyd’s status for Sunday is unknown coming off a recent bronze medal run at the Tokyo Olympics.

Racing and Gotham have yet to meet during the regular season. During the preseason Challenge Cup tournament, the sides played to a scoreless draw back on May 2.

Following Sunday’s game, Racing plays on Wednesday and Saturday of next week as part of The Women’s Cup, welcoming European powers FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain to Louisville. Games at Kansas City (Aug. 25) and the Houston Dash (Aug. 29) come quickly after that.

Here’s more of what to watch for Sunday…

Coach Christy Holly says…

“There are a lot of games. There is a lot of fantastic competition. The NWSL doesn’t let you breathe for a second. Then you bring in PSG and Bayern Munich [for The Women’s Cup]. It is all a big privilege for us. We will be rotating players and managing players’ minutes. We must be sensible and respectful. At the same time, we must make sure that we are still moving forward. There are players moving forward who may be on limited minutes and will try to have a big impact within the game. We have a little bit of progress here. Let’s keep adding to it and not take two steps back.”

“Gotham FC is a very good team. They are very organized and balanced front to back. They have plenty of experience and a lot of consistency. They are moving forward, chipping away and picking up points. If we want to get anything out of this game, we have to perform and be very disciplined in everything that we do within the game.” 

Follow along

For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @RacingLouFC on Twitter and Racing Louisville FC on Facebook. Also find us at @racinglouisvillefc on Instagram.

Watch the match on Paramount+ with play by play from Corey Cohen and color commentary by Anna Witte. Internationally, fans can also stream the match on Twitch. 

Notes to know

The playoff race: With all NWSL clubs to the midpoint of a 24-game regular season, the standings remain tight, with the difference between second and eighth on the table only four points. Racing follows in ninth, five points from the all-important sixth place, the playoff cutline. Louisville holds at least one game in hand on every team but Gotham entering this bit of schedule congestion.

Savannah’s service: Savannah McCaskill, a forward who has found herself in more of a midfield role with Racing, has seen plenty of time on the ball and converted it to the stat sheet Sunday, assisting on goals in either half of the win over Kansas City. It marked the first time as a pro she’s numbered two assist in a game and raised her total on the year to three, tied for the NWSL lead in that category.

Making a splash: Salmon finished an impressive 42nd-minute team sequence for Sunday’s opening goal, completing a buildup that started with Racing goalkeeper Michelle Betos. Her four goals are most on the team, even as the impressive young English international joined mid-season, and have her tied for fifth in the league alongside players such as Alex Morgan and former NWSL No. 1 pick Sophia Smith.

Nadim nets one: The international star forward opened her Racing account Sunday when heading in McCaskill’s 55th-minute cross from the right side. It was a goal well on its way as Nadim, who has now made two starts and three appearances overall, was quick to get involved in the attack. The No. 10 joined the team in July fresh off winning a French title at PSG.

Soccer mom: Fewer than eight months after giving birth to her second child, forward Cheyna Matthews walked in an 86th-minute exclamation point of a goal Sunday against Kansas City. Matthews won possession on an opposing throw in, pulled the goalkeeper off her line and waltzed the ball over the line for her first goal since scoring against the Orlando Pride in July of 2019, then with the Washington Spirit. 

Brick wall Betos: There haven’t been many players in the NWSL as frequently tested, and yet consistently brilliant, as Racing’s goalkeeper. Michelle Betos grew her league lead in saves against Kansas City, registering eight of them. It marked the third-most saves in a single game for her this season following 10 in a May 21 win over Washington and nine in a June 5 defeat at Portland. 

A return to the pitch: Having last appeared in Racing’s May 15 season opener against Kansas City, midfielder Taylor Otto subbed on for the first time since then Sunday against the same opponent. In the meantime, she underwent knee surgery and rehabbed, making a relatively quick comeback. Racing selected Otto 11th overall in the 2021 NWSL Draft out of the University of North Carolina.

Holly’s history: Before named Racing’s first head coach, Christ Holly spent five years with Gotham FC when it was then known as Sky Blue FC, serving for three seasons as an assistant before assuming the head coaching gig. Between his Sky Blue and Racing jobs, Holly worked as an opposition analyst for U.S. Soccer.

Gotham ties: They don’t end with Holly. Defender Kaleigh Riehl, selected by Racing in the 2020 expansion draft, played there previously, as did McCaskill, who started her pro career in New Jersey as an NWSL Rookie of the Year finalist in 2018. Defender Erin Simon signed for Sky Blue in 2016 under Holly’s direction, while Nadim also called the club home from 2014-2015.

Trophy on the line: When Racing returns home on a quick turnaround, it’ll play for some hardware. It’s run at The Women’s Cup opens Wednesday against the Chicago Red Stars in a league game that, should it end in a draw, will be decided on penalties for the purpose of the tournament. Bayern and PSG open a doubleheader, with the final and third-place game the following Saturday at Lynn Family Stadium.

Injury report

• Addisyn Merrick – Out
• Gemma Bonner – Questionable 
• Katie McClure – Questionable

Milestone watch

Michelle Betos is one shutout away from her 15th NWSL regular season clean sheet and would be one of seven players to earn that stat. 

Nadia Nadim is one goal from her 30th NWSL regular season goal.

Savannah McCaskill is one appearance from her 55th in NWSL regular season play,

Professional soccer clubs Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC are this month launching their first supporter group geared toward the next generation of fans.

The Lil’ Kickers Kids Club, powered by Zappos.com, will provide opportunities for those ages 3-12 to connect with the teams through exclusive content, swag and events.

Signups are open now at LouCity.com/kids-club or www.racingloufc.com/racingloufc/kids-club. Registrations will also be accepted at home games beginning Saturday when the boys in purple host FC Tulsa at Lynn Family Stadium.

“The Kids Club sets us on a course not just to further engage younger members of our existing fan base but help us reach a goal of every child in our community having access to LouCity and Racing Louisville in some way,” said club president Brad Estes.

“We thank Zappos for helping us launch this initiative, which we anticipate will only grow in the coming years.

Kids Club memberships are available in both a free and low-cost paid tier.

The free version includes a digital membership certificate, access to discounted game tickets, subscription to a monthly e-newsletter including exclusive Kids Club content, invitations to Kids Club events and reduced prices on academy camps and clinics.

A $35 annual membership comes with all of the above plus a free game ticket and number of items including a Zappos discount code, T-shirt, shoelaces, lunch tote, keychain as well as more goodies designed to help kids represent their clubs.

With every paid Kids Club membership purchased, a ticket will be donated to host another child at a LouCity or Racing game. Residents of Bellewood & Brooklawn — which care for vulnerable children and their families throughout the state — will also be invited to an upcoming game in conjunction with the Kids Club launch.

“Sports are a great way for kids to grow, learn and have fun — all values we hold close to our heart at Zappos,” said Sarah Fee, senior directior of operations, Zappos.com “We look forward to powering the Lil’ Kickers Kids Club and further supporting the Louisville community.

Once available, Kids Club gear will be redeemable each home game at Lynn Family Stadium. Contact LouCity/Racing’s Chris Antonious at cantonious@loucity.com with questions.