Crucial games around the Eastern Conference Playoffs line, one of the biggest rivalries in American Soccer and a top-three clash that brings together a top defense and a great attack are the prime features in the USL Championship this weekend.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s where you can find where everyone stands in the Race to the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs. Here are three more storylines to know going in, three players to keep an eye on, and what else you need to know before tuning in on CBS Sports Golazo Network and ESPN+.

1. EASTERN CONFERENCE RACE SET TO SHARPEN

With only two points separating the four teams sitting between eighth and 11th place in the Eastern Conference, nothing is going to get decided this weekend.

At the same time, the matchups that see eighth-place Loudoun United FC visit ninth-place Hartford Athletic on Saturday night and both Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and North Carolina FC hit the road on Saturday and Sunday night respectively could bring the picture into sharper focus.

• DRIVER’S SEAT: By the numbers, Loudoun is in the driver’s seat. Sitting in eighth place with five games to go, United controls its path as it takes aim at a first postseason berth in club history.

• MOMENTUM RISING: If we’re looking at form, then Hartford might be the team to beat. Athletic has taken 15 points from its last eight games compared to 11 for Pittsburgh, 10 for North Carolina and eight for Loudoun and is undefeated in its last seven.

• UPS AND DOWNS: Pittsburgh and North Carolina are right there, but their inconsistency has seen both leave chance to assert their claim begging. NCFC has alternated wins and losses in its last five games – including defeat in El Paso last time out – while Pittsburgh has one win in its last four games.

Loudoun Head Coach Ryan Martin acknowledged in his pregame press conference that nothing’s going to be decided this week – there are too many games left for all the clubs involved.

For a team that’s been on the outside looking in throughout its history, though, the prospect of what’s ahead in the final five games is palpable in United’s squad.

“I think when you have pressure and you’re in October and you’re in a playoff hunt, it’s exciting,” said Martin. “It’s something the club has strived to do with Attain and the new ownership group, to be a playoff team, and here we are, five games left and an opportunity to go where we all want to go.”

2. WHAT’S THE LIPAFC GOING TO GIVE US?

If you’re a fan of Indy Eleven or Louisville City FC, you know the stakes for this Saturday’s Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest – if LouCity wins at Michael A. Carroll Stadium, it claims the Players’ Shield for the first time.

But there’s so much more to this edition of the best current rivalry in the Championship that makes it worth watching.

• CHASING HISTORY: LouCity has records in sight. After earning the Championship’s single-season marks for home wins and goals as it reached 52 tallies in its 14th win of the season against Miami FC on Wednesday, it now needs three wins in its last four games to set the overall single-season wins mark of 25.

• CHASING REDEMPTION: The Boys in Blue need to change the series narrative. April’s 5-3 defeat against LouCity before a national television audience on CBS was part of an early season slide for Indy. Since then, it’s reached the Semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup and asserted itself in a bid for a top four finish in the East, but it might not get there without ending a three-game losing streak in the LIPAFC.

• FIREPOWER ABOUNDS: You’re not going to find too many matchups with this much attacking potential in the league. Indy’s Augustine Williams and LouCity’s Wilson Harris are both in the league’s all-time Top 10 goalscorers, while there are the likes of Indy’s Romario Williams and Maalique Foster and Louisville’s Phillip Goodrum and Ray Serrano bringing plenty to the table.  

Are we likely to get another eight-goal thriller between these clubs? History would say no.

But with all the ingredients it contains, this could be a tremendous edition of the rivalry.

3. LE ROUGE HEAD TO CHARLESTON

Only one team in the USL Championship enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak, and it’s arrived at the ideal moment for Detroit City FC to push the side into a top-three position in the Eastern Conference.

As big as the winning streak has been for Le Rouge, what’s been as notable is which clubs they’ve defeated along the way – namely Louisville City FC and New Mexico United, the respective current conference leaders – which sets the stage for Saturday’s visit to the Charleston Battery.

• DEFENSE FIRST: Le Rouge has got back to basics in earning success, conceding only once in its last four games overall to now sit with 29 goals conceded in 30 games. That will clearly be tested by the Battery’s attack led by single-season record holder Nick Markanich and strike partner MD Myers, who’ve combined for 40 of the 63 goals the Battery have scored this season.

• CLOSING OUT: The Battery, meanwhile, can clinch at least the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a win on home turf. As much as Louisville City has taken the spotlight this season for its home prowess, Charleston is also 12-1-1 at Patriots Point this season with three of its final four games at home.

• ROAD SHOW: Overall, Detroit has been the second-best road team in the league this season. It’s earned 25 points in 15 away games, only one fewer than Louisville, and while its big recent victories against LouCity and New Mexico came on home turf, this game could set a marker for a potential Eastern Conference Semifinal clash next month.

Ordinarily, a game like this might get the biggest billing of the weekend. It will get a big spotlight, airing live on TUDN before the network’s LigaMX slate through the rest of the night. The visitors will hope to make their presence known and continue their surge.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Juan Agudelo, San Antonio FC – The former U.S. international scored for the first time since July against Rhode Island FC last Saturday and may need to be at the forefront as SAFC faces a crucial game at home to Sacramento Republic FC.

Akeem Ward, Memphis 901 FC – The veteran left back is having another stellar season for 901 FC as he prepares to face one of his former clubs in Oakland Roots SC. The battle between Ward and Roots’ forward Johnny Rodriguez could be worth keeping an eye on.

Shawn Smart, Las Vegas Lights FC – The young defender could be matched up at times with Orange County starlet Bryce Jamison, which could offer a fascinating duel to follow in a big game for both clubs at Cashman Field.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

#PHXvMB: Phoenix Rising has got to get last week’s defeat out of its system while Monterey Bay F.C. must find a way to find the back of the net after six games scoreless. We’ve got Dollar Beers, at least, and hopefully for Phoenix that will get their playoff drive back on track while putting another dent in MBFC’s chances.

#MIAvPIT: The Hounds are undefeated in their last six outings against Miami, but they’ve got to take all three points here with only four games to go. With the hosts scoreless in their past five outings and coming off a midweek visit to Louisville, the odds are in Pittsburgh’s favor, but they only took a 1-0 win earlier this season at home.

#RIvTBR: The Rowdies surged past Rhode Island when they met earlier this season with four second-half goals at Al Lang Stadium. Finding that sort of attacking display would be a massive weight off Tampa Bay, which has lost three of its last four, and RIFC’s JJ Williams will surely be keen to come up big against his former club.

#MEMvOAK: Memphis has slipped out of the top four in the West after taking only one win in its last five outings. Against an Oakland Roots side that’s struggled even more for form with a four-game scoreless streak, 901 FC needs to find a way to get back on track and potentially clinch a playoff spot.

#TULvELP: Thanks to games like this at home to last-place El Paso Locomotive on its schedule, FC Tulsa is favored to get above the playoff line by the end of the regular season. Of course, we though the same thing about North Carolina FC last week, and El Paso beat them, so Tulsa needs to follow through with a second consecutive victory.

#SAvSAC: Sacramento Republic FC was one of the first sides that showed it had solved San Antonio FC last season as it first outbattled and then outplayed SAFC. Expect a heated clash here given the stakes for San Antonio, for which the danger of missing the playoffs rises exponentially with a loss.

#LVvOC: Colin Shutler has been as good as it gets over the past three outings – all shutouts – to help Orange County above the playoff line before its trip to face Las Vegas Lights. He might need to do that again given how tenacious Las Vegas has been this season – the Lights enter having lost only once in their last 18 league contests.

#BHMvNC: North Carolina needs to find a win to continue its run of alternating wins and losses, but that might be difficult against a Legion side that’s won two in a row at home. Given the stakes for both sides, another 1-1 draw like the one that played out in April is the last thing we’re expecting.