Match Preview: Chattanooga FC vs. Crown Legacy FC
CFC looking for first win since late May
Match: Chattanooga FC v Crown Legacy FC
Date: Sunday, July 26h, 2025. 19:00 (Eastern)
Venue: Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN. Capacity: 20,412
How to watch: MLS Next Pro Website
Tickets: Chattanooga FC Website
Ninth place Crown Legacy FC travels to Finley Stadium on Saturday night to take on third place Chattanooga FC in the MLS Eastern Conference. As they all seem to be at this point in the season, this is a must-win game for both sides. Chattanooga needs to win, especially at home, to keep up pressure on New York Red Bulls II and Philadelphia Union II in the title race. Crown Legacy meanwhile needs to ensure points in the business-end of the season as they battle for a playoff spot.
Chattanooga (W:8 L:4 D:6 SOW:3 GF:29 GA:26 GD:+3) are on a fairly labored run, having failed to win in their last five games. They enjoyed a strong start to the season, but weak summer form has seen them drop points since early June. The visit of Crown Legacy is the second of a three-match homestand as last weekend they tied 2-2 with Inter Miami II and won the resulting shoot-out. Daniel Mangarov scored both CFC’s goals that day, sparking hopes of a return to the impressive form he showed in spring. Chattanooga has only lost one of its nine home league games this year.
Their visitors this weekend are Crown Legacy FC (W:4 L:6 D:8 SOW:3 GF:27 GA:34 GD:-7), the reserve team for Charlotte FC. Six places and ten points behind their hosts, they’re fighting an entirely different battle at the moment. Not looking at a title tilt, they’re working on staying in the playoff hunt across a very tight and competitive midfield. Last weekend they were handed a firm spanking when Philadelphia visited Mecklenburg County Sportsplex and scored four unanswered goals. Crown Legacy has won only two of its nine away games this year.
The game kicks off at 7pm Eastern and will be broadcast live on the MLS Next Pro website.
The History
Chattanooga: P:4 W:1 D:1 L:2 SOW:1 GF:5 GA:8
Crown Legacy: P:4 W:2 D:1 L:1 SOW:0 GF:8 GA:5
Sunday's match will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two sides. Earlier this season, Chattanooga beat Crown legacy 2-1 at Finley Stadium. After Magic Smalls had put the Carolina club ahead, CFC responded through goals from Peter Plougmand and Jesus Ibarra to take all three points. Plougmand was my man-of-the-match that day, but homegrown hero and captain, Jack Neeley, also had an excellent game for the visitors.
The two teams will meet for a third and final time in the regular season when Chattanooga travels to Mecklenburg County on September 12th.
Report cards and lineups
Chattanooga
Head Coach Chris Nugent’s side desperately wants a win to punch some momentum into their season and keep apace with New York and Philadelphia. Last weekend’s tie with Inter Miami was an entertaining game (as games between CFC and Miami always seem to be) but a winnable one. The team did show solid reserve in winning 5-4 in the shootout for an extra point and an important lift to the bumper crowd of 4,072 at Finley Stadium. It will be interesting to see if that lift can prove a catalyst for this team to start winning again. Similarly, Daniel Mangarov’s excellent brace was reminiscent of the outputs he was generating earlier in the season, and there’s hope he can become that offensive outlet again that the club has been lacking this summer.
I was happy to see Nugent revert to three central defenders again recently as I think this gives wing-backs Tate Robertson and Milo Garvanian more opportunities to roam ahead and link with the team’s wide forwards. They have 17 goal contributions between them this year and if both are available, will be key to what this team does well.
There was no Peter Plougmand in the squad against Inter Miami, with Markus Naglestad being favored over Keegan Ancelin up front. I think Ancelin is a good player and put up some good numbers in the early games of the season, but he seems down in the pecking order now for Nugent, with Colin Thomas chosen against Miami in a forward position.
Elsewhere, I don’t expect any surprises outside of injuries. Eldin Jakupović picks himself, as does stand-in captain Farid Sar-Sar and fellow center-back Nathan Koehler. I really like Gavin Turner who I think has proven to be an excellent loan signing from DC United and may finally plug a hole vacated by injured captain Alex McGrath. My player to watch this weekend is Mangarov. It was good to see him dominate a game again like he did last weekend against Miami. He now has six goals and four assists in all competitions and it would be good to see him push on and become that offensive talisman again that the team lacked during their rough June stretch.
Crown Legacy
Crown Legacy’s coach, Gary Dicker will have found last weekend’s thrashing by Philadelphia a sobering experience. Yes, Union II are a very good side, but the nature of the defeat was so complete and so devastating. Down two goals already, they then had 17-year-old Nimfasha Berchimas sent off before Philly rounded out the scoring. And while CLFC dominated possession, the offensive stats are embarrassing reading for a home side. They had five shots to Philadelphia’s 22 and registered no shots on target nor clear cut chances.
I wonder will Dicker drop Isaac Walker after he conceded seven goals in his last two games and reinstate Nick Holliday as the starting goalkeeper. The same questions might be asked of the defense. Captain Jack Neeley is a good defender who admittedly had a nightmare against Philadelphia. He has experience with Charlotte’s first team and is highly regarded, so I don’t expect Dicker to cut him. He’s also a goalscorer.
Neeley, attacker Andrej Subotić, and midfielder Emmanuel Uchegbu are all tied as the leading goalscorers for the club, with four goals each this year. Subotić leads in goals and assists (six).
Adrian Mendoza earned MLS NEXT Rising Star of Matchweek 18 honors after scoring his first professional goal in just his second start for Crown Legacy FC during its 4-3 win at Inter Miami CF II on July 13. Elsewhere there’s some international experience in this youthful side with Baye Coulibaly (Mali), Wyatt Holt (United States), Assane Ouedraogo (Ivory Coast), Subotić (Serbia and Bosnia), and Uchegbu (Nigeria) all earning caps at underage level.
Subotić is my player to watch. The 18-year-old was born in Bosnia but has represented Serbia up to u19 level. In total he has 34 youth international caps for Serbia and Bosnia from u15 to u19 and has experience playing with Cukaricki in the Serbian topflight. In his first season with Crown Legacy, he has those four goals and two assists in 16 games and has played 939 minutes. This is a player that will likely be a ‘name’ someday and one of the great perks of covering this league is getting to see future stars in the infancy of their careers.
Analysis and Predictions
It’s really hard to look beyond Chattanooga in terms of predicting an outcome for this match. They’re the home side, are better on paper, have a better overall record and a better home record than Crown Legacy’s away record, and should have some bounce from their shootout win over Inter Miami. Their visitors are also very leaky at the back. I’m anticipating another big crowd to cheer CFC on and if Mangarov and Turner can continue to perform, this is a home win.
Having said that, it’s no guarantee. CFC hasn’t won since May 24th and a lot of its winnable home games seem to end in draws. Crown Legacy has much to play for and a tie is achievable. I just doubt it.
I’m going for a home win, 1-0.