We head into week six of the USL Championship with the top clubs clawing and fighting to create early season separation and after a midweek win, Charleston Battery find themselves at the top of the Eastern Conference. Can they cement their spot or will Louisville City bounce back against the Champions to retake their place at the top? Harry Austin takes a look at three critical matches and lists the rest of the best.

Must watch cross conference match: Louisville City FC (3-2-0 9 points) hosts San Antonio FC (3-0-2 11 points) 7:30 PM EST 4:30 EST
Rematch of the 2022 USL Championship Title Game but this time the match will be played in Louisville. For San Antonio, there will be three new additions to a roster decimated by injuries. However, if you are looking at SAFC’s form, you would never know. Louisville City, who have also been battling with injuries and roster issues, we cab expect a tight match that could go either way.

Must watch Eastern Conference Match: FC Tulsa (1-2-3 6 points) hosts Charleston Battery (5-0-2 11 points) 6pm EST 3PM PST

Charleston Battery are coming off a mid-week visit to Tampa Bay where they scored at the death to take the full three points from the Rowdies. They are now set to face FC Tulsa, who have not lost at home, with a record of 1 win and 2 draws. If the hosts, Tulsa, plan on making a push for the Top Four in the East, they would do well to get the win this week. Augustine Williams is key for Charleston, and if he continues his hot start of scoring, the Battery will be extremely tough to beat even on the road - give me Tulsa with a 1 goal win over the Battery.

Must watch Western Conference Match: 10PM EST 7PM PST Phoenix Rising FC (1-1-2 5 points) hosts Monterey Bay Union FC (2-2-1 7 points)

Who is the real Monterey Bay Union FC; the one that scores five goals at home against Hartford Athletic then four more at home vs New Mexico United? Or the one who struggled to score against RGV, LouCity and San Antonio FC? We will find out when they travel to Phoenix Rising FC - this Rising defense is much stronger and they are developing nicely under Juan Guerra’s style. Pair that with Danny Trejo starting to find the net and we can expect this to be a game that should have lots of goals in it.

The Rest of This week’s fixtures:
sat - April 15

Loudoun United vs Birmingham Legion - 3p (PST) / 6p (ET)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs RGV Toros - 4p (PST) / 7p (ET)
Miami FC vs Detroit City FC - 4p (PST) / 7p (ET)
Memphis 901 vs Las Vegas Lights - 5p (PST) / 8p (ET)
New Mexico United vs San Diego Loyal - 6p (PST) / 9p (ET)
Orange County SC vs Indy Eleven - 7p (PST) / 10p (ET)
Oakland Roots vs Hartford Athletic - 7p (PST) / 10p (ET)
Sacramento Republic vs Colorado Springs Switchbacks - 8p (PST) / 11p (ET)

by Harry Austin & Joshua Duder

The Rest of This week’s fixtures:sat - April 15

The Rest of This week’s fixtures:
sat - April 15