Match Preview: AV Alta FC v Chattanooga Red Wolves SC

First meeting of these two sides takes place on Saturday evening

Philip C Farrell

Apr 11, 2025

Game details

Match: AV Alta FC v Chattanooga Red Wolves SC

Date: Saturday, April 12th, 2025. 22:30 (Eastern)

Venue: Lancaster Municipal Stadium, Lancaster, CA. Capacity: 5,300

How to watch: ESPN+

Tickets: SeatGeek

USL League One sees the 12th place Red Wolves travels to the Antelope Valley this weekend to take on 11th place AV Alta. This is the first meeting between these two sides, as Alta is currently undertaking their debut season.

Both sides have scored three in three league games, with the Red Wolves holding the superior goal difference, having conceded three, compared to Alta’s five. With three wins from three at home and an expected bumper crowd, AV Alta will aim to hand the Red Wolves its first loss of the year.

Report cards and lineups

AV Alta FC

AV Alta’s maiden League One campaign got off to a rocky start, with a pair of losses away to South Georgia Tormenta (2-0) and Richmond Kickers (3-1). These losses were either side of a home win in the U.S. Open Cup against Ventura County Fusion of USL League Two. Since the loss in Richmond, Alta has bounced back with a pair of winning results at home: a 2-1 Open Cup victory against LAFC2 in extra time and a 2-0 shutout against fellow league newcomers Westchester SC. The latter game, their league home opener last Saturday, was a sellout.

Head Coach Brian Kleiban will likely have been both relieved and highly impressed by what he saw in Alta’s win over Westchester. Through choice and circumstance, he’s rotated players in and out of his starting XI all season so far and may have finally struck on his best selection. The player to watch is local lad Jimmie Villalobos, formerly of the Red Wolves, who scored a goal against Westchester and got a hockey assist. He and Harrison Robledo dominated that game. Nigerian attacker Emmanuel Alaribe has 2 goals in 5 games this year and will be hungry for a third. Finally, there’s the captain Miguel Pajaro, signed from from Tigres FC in the Colombian second tier, who looks a real talent. Overall, I expect Kleiban to start roughly the same side that beat Westchester, but we’ll likely see some minor tweaking.

Saturday’s game will be the first of a three-match home stand, and fans in the Antelope Valley will be hoping to keep momentum going at Lancaster Municipal Stadium.

Red Wolves

Chattanooga’s season has started indifferently. The club has yet to lose a game but has also yet to win one. Three ties in league play (1-1 at Naples; 0-0 at Charlotte; 2-2 versus Tormenta) have accompanied a pair of ties in the Open Cup, where it progressed passed both New Jersey Alliance of the NPSL and neighbors Chattanooga FC of MLS Next Pro away on penalties.

Scott Mackenzie’s thin squad has slowly been adding more depth, with Zahir Vazquez, Alhassan Alhassan, and Omar Gómez recently coming in. The Red Wolves player to watch right now is Omar Hernández who has two cracking goals to his name this season, and scored a penalty last time out against Tormenta. Goalkeeper Jason Smith is also having an excellent season, and the defensive knot of Declan Watters and Tobi Jnohope has been largely solid. Mackenzie finally has options for rotating and may well start using them more. I’m predicting the above lineup, with the possible change of Gómez for Michael Knapp.

Analysis and Prediction

Neither of these teams has had a stellar start to their campaigns so far. Equal on three points, and only one win between them, picking a winner here isn’t easy. There will be goals though, each has three in three. The smart bet says this will be a tie, 2-2.