Gotham FC vs San Diego Wave FC preview: Back home again in New Jersey

NJ/NY Gotham FC will return to New Jersey for the first time in over two months as they welcome San Diego Wave FC. This is the first of three home Friday night matches in August after a lengthy spell away from their usual home, forced by this summer's Men's World Cup.

Gotham FC is currently on a six-match unbeaten run, an impressive feat given that the run has featured four true away games and two "home" games at two separate alternative home venues in New York City. Gotham's last loss came at the hands of the Wave, a 2-0 defeat in both teams' first regular season game after the summer break.

While Gotham has been flying since the last matchup between these two sides, San Diego has been faltering. The Wave have just one win in four games since that win over the Bats, scoring only three times in those four games. Their lone win was a big one, a 1-0 victory away to the Washington Spirit, but this team has gone from one that could score at will to one that is struggling to find the back of the net.

The xG numbers are on par with their season averages: 1.92 in their last four games compared to 1.87 as their season average, but the club did lose forward Dudinha to an ACL injury during the summer break while she was on international duty with Brazil. The young forward was on an MVP-level pace with five goals and four assists in 13 matches prior to the injury. Here is a preview of Friday's game between Gotham FC and San Diego.

Gotham FC vs San Diego Wave

Date

The game will take place on Friday, August 7.

Time

The fixture is scheduled to kick off at 8:00 PM.

Location

The match will be played at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

How to watch

The game will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

Weather

There is a chance of rain and thunderstorms in the hours leading up to and then through to the latter stages of Friday's game. The precipitation chances peak at 60% at 6:00 PM and drop as low as 30% at 9:00 PM. The rain will seemingly bring the sweltering temperatures down, as it is expected to be 83 degrees at kickoff, eight degrees lower than the predicted high, before dropping to 80 degrees by the end of the game. Humidity will be high at 70-80% throughout the match. Sunset is scheduled for 8:04 PM, which should occur before kickoff.

Injury report

Kayla Duran (knee - SEI), Denise O'Sullivan (knee), and Emily Sonnett (knee - SEI) are all unavailable.

Players to watch

Gotham FC fans should watch Sam Kerr, who is starting to produce at a Sam Kerr level. She has two goals and an assist in her last three matches and has come incredibly close on multiple other occasions to increasing that goal-scoring total. With Esther González no longer at the club, the main responsibility to score goals falls at the Aussie's feet, something she is seemingly having no problem taking on.

For San Diego, Mimi Van Zanten is cementing herself at the top of the Rookie of the Year race, making her one to watch. The 21-year-old Jamaican right-back is having a stellar season for one of the premier clubs in NWSL in 2026. She has essentially been a day-one starter and is coming off a player of the game performance against Washington, where she was able to pocket MVP front-runner Trinity Rodman.

Prediction

This will be a tough game for Gotham. Not just because San Diego won the reverse fixture, but because the Californian side has the second-best road record in NWSL at 6-2-1. That being said, the Bats should pull out a 1-0 victory, their third in a row, on the back of a goal from Kerr. This result would see them keep their top spot in the table and could see San Diego drop another spot down to fifth if the Kansas City Current can get a win over the Houston Dash.

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