LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The second edition of the 2017 River Cities Cup kicks off on Saturday night at Slugger Field with both Louisville City FC and FC Cincinnati both battling for position in the USL Eastern Conference playoff positions. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

Matchcenter: http://bit.ly/2umRy4P | Tickets: http://bit.ly/2oaoiI1 | Broadcast: WBNA (LOU), WSTR (CIN)

Louisville City FC news and notes

• Current record: 8-2-5, 29pts

• Louisville played to a 1-1 draw with the Charleston Battery last Saturday at MUSC Health Stadium as Ilija Ilic scored the equalizer after the hosts had taken the lead.

• Ilic’s goal was his first of the season, and continued Louisville’s solid run of form in front of goal of late. City has scored 14 goals in its last seven league contests entering Saturday.

• The draw with Charleston kept Louisville six points back of the Eastern Conference leaders, with two games in hand on the Battery.

• Louisville midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye made his first start for Canada on Tuesday night as the side played to a 1-1 draw with Costa Rica at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup in Houston.

FC Cincinnati news and notes

• Current record: 6-6-6, 24pts

• Cincinnati scored early and late to earn a 2-0 victory against the Richmond Kickers in its last league outing last Sunday evening at Nippert Stadium.

• FCC’s Quarterfinal clash with Miami FC in the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was postponed on Wednesday night due to heavy rain and lightning. The game has been rescheduled for August 2.

• Cincinnati learned on Friday it would host the New York Red Bulls in the tournament’s Semifinals should it advance against Miami after the draw was made at U.S. Soccer headquarters in Chicago.

• FCC announced this week the addition of Kyle Greig, Sem de Wit and Kevin Schindler, all of whom joined the team in separate deals this week.

Series Notes

• The all-time regular-season series it level 1-1-2 after the two teams played to a 1-1 draw at Nippert Stadium in the first meeting this season.

Squads

• Louisville – GK: Greg Ranjitsingh, Tim Dobrowolski, Micah Bledsoe; D: Sean Totsch, Paco Craig, Oscar Jimenez, Tarek Morad, Sean Reynolds, Kyle Smith; M: Guy Abend, Paolo DelPiccolo, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Niall McCabe, Brian Ownby, Devon Williams, George Davis IV, Richard Ballard; F: Ilija Ilic, Luke Spencer, Cameron Lancaster

• Cincinnati – GK: Mitch Hildebrandt, Dan Williams, Dallas Jaye; D: Matt Bahner, Tyler Polak, Harrison Delbridge, Pat McMahon, Austin Berry, Garrett Halfhill, Justin Hoyte, Mele Temguia, Josu; M: Aodhan Quinn, Kenney Walker, Paul Nicholson, Eric Stevenson, Aaron Walker, Corben Bone, Jimmy McLaughlin, Marco Dominguez; F: Kadeem Dacres, Djiby Fall, Danni König, Omar Cummings, Andrew Wiedeman

Discipline

• Louisville – Accumulation warning: Kyle Smith, Paolo DelPiccolo

• Cincinnati – Accumulation warning: Aodhan Quinn

Officials

• REF: MARCOS DEOLIVEIRA

• AR1: Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein

• AR2: Paul Terry

• 4TH: Johann Pedolzky

Game hashtag:

• #LOUvCIN

Twitter social handles

• Louisville City FC – @LouCityFC

• FC Cincinnati – @FCCincinnati