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The regular season is on hold for New Mexico United 鈥� and for Phoenix Rising FC for that matter.

USL Cup competition is making another appearance on Saturday.

Here are some things to note:

Free kicks

1. ANOTHER ROUND FOR THE GROUP: The USL Cup is back 鈥� for Round 3 for the four-match group stage. Reminder, the winners of the seven groups and the second-place club with the highest point total advance to the knockout stage set for August, September and October.

Both United and Rising have three points each in Group 2. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and El Paso Locomotive FC are one and two, respectively, in the standings with six points apiece. Switchbacks have the slight advantage on goal differential (5-3).

New Mexico won its USL Cup Opener 2-1 over AV Alta FC on April 25 and then lost 4-0 to Colorado Springs on May 16. United manager Dennis Sanchez rested most of his starters for the club鈥檚 second match due it being played midweek. Whether he does again on Saturday remains to be seen.

New Mexico鈥檚 final Cup group match will be at El Paso on July 11.

Phoenix, meanwhile, fell 1-0 to Switchbacks and then topped Orange County SC 2-1. Rising plays at AV Alta to close its group stage. 

2. SACKO TO 鈥橢M: Ihsan Sacko has certainly been punishing opponents this season. And that includes United.

The Frenchman is tied with El Paso鈥檚 Rubio Rub铆n and Colorado Spring鈥檚 Khori Bennett with eight regular-season goals, two of which came in Rising鈥檚 3-0 drubbing of New Mexico on April 11. To put that in comparison, United has scored 11 times total in non-Cup competitions.

Sacko's eight scores are a career high, topping the seven he recorded last season for Phoenix. The forward also has two assists this year.

It should be noted that Rising has scored 15 goals in the regular season. The next closest Phoenix player in terms of goals scored? John Scearce with two. 

At least you know where Rising鈥檚 offense will come from.

3. THREE OF A KIND? New Mexico hasn鈥檛 produced many goals over its last four matches (between the USL Cup and regular season). It鈥檚 scored once. But the club has to feel confident in its defense.

United is coming off a 1-0 win over Charleston Battery and a 0-0 draw at Hartford Athletic.

The last time New Mexico had three consecutive clean sheets? It was just last season. 

United posted five straight shutouts, beating El Paso 1-0 on March 22, Miami FC 1-0 on March 29, North Carolina FC 1-0 on April 12, Monterey Bay FC 1-0 on April 23 and Union Omaha 1-1 on April 26. The last match was in USL Cup play.

4. HOME ON THE RANGE: Rising鈥檚 win over United in April took place in Phoenix. Perhaps playing at home 鈥� or at least in New Mexico 鈥� should help.

United is 5-2-1 in all competitions (regular season, U.S. Open Cup and USL Cup) when playing at either Isotopes Park or the UNM soccer complex. New Mexico has outscored its opponents 鈥� barley 鈥� 14-13 in such contests.

On the road, United is 1-4-1 and has been outscored 10-2.

Key matchup

United defender Kipp Keller vs. Rising forward Charlie Dennis

Keller has played in five matches since returning from a second hernia surgery and the defender has shown a knack for interfering with opposing offensive chances. Keller is tied for second on United with 29 clearances with Maliek Howell. Dennis has one goal for Rising, but he did score in the team鈥檚 win over Orange County. 

Player of the match

United forward Justin Rennicks

He remains the only New Mexico player to score in a USL Cup match 鈥� the go-ahead against AV Alta 鈥� so why not pick him? He tends to be around the ball when he subs into the second half of matches.

By the numbers

2: Rising ranks second in the USL Championship with 36 yellow cards, two behind San Antonio. United is fourth with 34 with Zico Bailey collecting a club-high five.

22: The number of shots Sacko has taken with 16 being on goal. He鈥檚 converted 36.4% of his on-target attempts.

4: The number of clean sheets Rising goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky has recorded, which is tied for fifth in the USL Championship.

5: How many matches United has scored multiple goals in across all competitions.

David Glovach covers New Mexico United and other sports for the Journal. Reach him at dglovach@abqjournal.com or via X .