Energy FC will look to get back to winning ways on Saturday night as they head to Reno, Nev. to take on a side that has also had a slow start to 2018. Reno 1868 FC currently sits 14th in the Western Conference – one point and one place ahead of OKC.

Reno picked up its first win of the season last Saturday with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Portland Timbers 2. Victor Arboleda put the hosts ahead in the 38th minute, but Danny Musovski struck twice in the 75th and 89th minutes to help Reno take all three points. The performance earned him a spot in the USL Team of the Week.

Musovski, the 30th overall pick by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, is performing well so far during his loan spell with Reno. In addition to his brace last week, he also salvaged a point for his club in a 1-1 draw away to Las Vegas – a match in which he was also sent off after being booked twice. Having played just 258 minutes, he is currently Reno’s leading scorer.

1868 FC, the USL’s runaway leaders in goals in 2017, have struggled to find a replacement for last year’s top scorer and league MVP, Dane Kelly, as they’ve only managed six goals with one being an own goal.

There are some familiar faces in the squad from last year though. Parisian midfielder Antoine Hoppenot picked up where he left off in 2017 and already has three assists in five appearances. Lindo Mfeka has also returned for 2018. Energy FC fans will remember Mfeka scoring a hat trick when OKC was beaten at Reno in the regular season.

The 2017 Rookie of the Year, Chris Wehan, has one goal in one appearance, but the midfielder has not featured since the opener after being called up to represent the Earthquakes.

This showdown is a rematch of last year’s 2017 USL Playoffs opening round – a match OKC won 1-0 at Reno on a goal from Wojciech Wojcik.

The sides met two other times during Reno’s inaugural season. The first fixture ended in a 1-0 win for OKC at Taft Stadium in August. Jose Angulo was the lone scorer on the day. The second was the aforementioned 3-0 loss away in September.

In addition to the likely absence of Wehan, Brenton Griffiths will also miss out for Reno on Saturday night. The center back is serving his second of a three match suspension for a red card picked up in Reno’s April 14 loss to Colorado Springs.

Griffiths’ absence will likely not help a defense that’s struggled at keeping opponents from finding the back of the net. In five matches, Reno has conceded 11 goals and kept no clean sheets. Saturday night should be a good opportunity for OKC to end the goal-scoring drought.

1868 FC lined up in 4-2-3-1 against Portland – Marcinkowski; Richards, Carroll, Murrell, Kiffe; Abend (Mfeka, 75’), Fernandes (Partida, 45’); Hoppenot, van Ewijk, Casiple (Thiaw, 67’); Musovski. While Reno tends to mix it up among the front six by sometimes playing two holding midfielders and sometimes playing two up top, they have played a back four in every match so far this season.

For the Greens, Coach Steve Cooke will likely have to opt for some new faces in the starting XI. Juan Pablo Guzman went off injured against St. Louis and is questionable for Saturday. Justin Chavez was booked twice and will miss the match through suspension.

Callum Ross, who started as a center back last week, could return to his role in the midfield. Coady Andrews, who came on for the injured Guzman, will certainly be in contention for a starting spot after performing well in his season debut.

If Energy FC are short two midfielders Saturday night, then we could see the OKC debut of Juan Niño. The Colombia native and cousin of Guzman hasn’t yet featured in 2018 after picking up an injury in preseason but has been an unused substitute on three occasions.

If Niño’s still not quite ready and Cooke doesn’t feel he has a like-for-like replacement, we might see a different formation for the first time this season. A 4-3-3 to help the likes of Miguel Gonzalez, Alex Dixon, Jon Brown, Jaime Siaj or any of the wide players start higher up the pitch is an intriguing possibility. It will also be interesting to see if Angulo is fit enough to start, and if so, whom he replaces among the attacking players.

Something else to note and keep an eye on Saturday is OKC’s level of intensity. The match against St. Louis proved to be a feisty one with the teams combining for 40 fouls. Energy FC committed a new club record of 21. In addition to Chavez, JPG, Ross and Kyle Hyland were also booked. It might have been the conditions that caused the players to pick up more fouls than normal, or perhaps it was their intention to get stuck in to their opponents right away. Regardless of the reason, the effort was there from the first whistle, and the fans will surely be excited to see the guys fighting and putting in maximum effort to get the season back on track.

Saturday’s match at Greater Nevada Field kicks off at 9:00pm CT and will be available to watch on ESPN+.