Five Reasons the KC Current will Beat Gotham This Time

Kansas City Current will travel* to New York this Sunday to battle Gotham FC in the NWSL Semifinals. The two sides have already met three times in 2026 across regular season and Challenge Cup play, with Gotham taking the upper hand in both games away from KC.

However, the team Chris Armas takes to the East Coast this weekend looks entirely different from the squad that dropped those earlier contests, and the environment will be drastically different from what Gotham is used to. Here are five reasons Kansas City is poised to flip the script and secure a spot in the NWSL Championship.

*Quick note: Kansas City were impacted by the FAA issues on Friday and are set to travel on Saturday now.

A Fully Loaded Attack

When these two teams met in the 2025 playoffs, Kansas City’s roster was decimated by an atrocious injury report. The Current were forced to take the field without the historic scoring pace of Temwa Chawinga (hip) and the firepower of Michelle Cooper (foot), while Bia Zaneratto was severely hampered by a lingering injury that hobbled her the entire game. The absences extended deep into the squad’s spine, with starting center back Alana Cook (season-ending knee injury) and veteran forward Kristen Hamilton (hip) both sidelined, alongside Vanessa DiBernardo who was away on maternity leave.

Those absences bled into their early 2026 matchups as well. Temwa only played 40 minutes in the win over Gotham in April. At the Challenge Cup, Debinha, DiBernardo and starting goalkeeper Lorena were all unavailable in the 2-0 loss. When Kansas City fell 2-1 to Gotham in August, Cooper was just making her return to the pitch after a 42-day absence and was limited to a second-half substitute role. Lorena was still out along with Temwa Chawinga.

Fast forward to Sunday, and Chris Armas finally has a fully healthy attacking trio and his starting goalkeeper. With Chawinga, Cooper, and Lorena healthy and new starting striker Haley Hopkins in form and at her natural position instead of playing out of position on the wing, the KC Current are a different team.

Gotham’s backline will face a relentless, multi-pronged attack they managed to avoid in previous high-stakes encounters.

The Return of Vanessa DiBernardo

The early portions of the 2026 campaign saw Kansas City struggle to command the midfield, particularly on the road. The turning point arrived when Vanessa DiBernardo was activated from maternity leave. She made her first start in 420 days during that August 14 loss to Gotham. Since knocking the rust off in that match, DiBernardo has completely transformed the midfield dynamics. She played her first 90+ minute shift this past weekend at just the right time.

She recently earned NWSL October/November Best XI honors, serving as the primary set-piece architect for a club that suddenly dominates dead-ball situations. Her ability to slow the game down, pick out line-breaking passes, and deliver pinpoint corners gives Kansas City the necessary control to dictate the tempo away from CPKC Stadium.

Armas has repeatedly said she’s a coach on the field. Pair her with a healthy and in form Lo LaBonta, who was also banged up early in 2026, and it starts to look like destiny for KC.

Riding a Hot Streak

Momentum matters in November, and no team in the NWSL is hotter than the KC Current. Kansas City closed the regular season on a five-match winning streak before handling Angel City 1-0 in the playoff quarterfinals. That six-match winning run highlights a squad peaking at exactly the right moment.

Over this stretch, the Current have routinely found ways to win close, ugly games, proving they no longer have to score three or four goals to secure a victory. Defensively, they have tightened up in transition, mostly erasing the lapses that plagued them during much of the early part of the 2026 season.

A Diminished Homefield Advantage for Gotham

Normally, traveling to face the defending champions in a packed stadium presents a massive psychological hurdle. That will not be the case on Sunday. Due to atrocious pitch conditions at their usual home venue, worsened by rugby matches and a scheduling conflict with a New York Red Bulls/Club America friendly, Gotham were forced to relocate this semifinal.

Instead of a massive crowd in Harrison, New Jersey, the match will be played at Icahn Stadium, a tiny venue on Randall’s Island with a capacity of roughly 5,000 fans. While the playing surface itself will be vastly improved and safer for the athletes, the intimidating atmosphere of a traditional road playoff game is definitely impacted. For a Kansas City team looking to execute a quiet, professional road performance, a more neutral-feeling venue is an advantage. Not the advantage a home playoff game would have been in a venue KC haven’t lost in since the playoffs in 2025, but an advantage nonetheless.

Gotham’s Mounting Injury Problems

While Kansas City boasts a healthy and rejuvenated roster, Gotham is limping into the semifinals dealing with significant injury attrition and fitness hurdles.

Head coach Juan Carlos Amorós is currently navigating the postseason without massive chunks of his defensive depth. Key defenders Emily Sonnett, Bruninha, and Kayla Duran are all sidelined on the season-ending injury list with knee injuries, alongside standout rookie forward Jordynn Dudley (foot), who nicked a goal of Kansas City earlier this year.

Beyond those long-term absences, several of Gotham’s biggest stars are battling lingering knocks. Midfielder Rose Lavelle was unable to play the full 90 minutes in last weekend’s 1-0 quarterfinal win over Seattle Reign as she continues to manage an injury.

The midfield suffered a recent injury to Jaelin Howell, who came off early against the Seattle Reign last week. If Gotham’s stars are forced to log heavy minutes at less than 100 percent, they simply may not have the fresh legs or defensive depth necessary to keep pace with Kansas City’s relentless, high-pressing attack.

The Verdict

Despite all of these factors, many tilting in the KC Current’s favor, it’s still the playoffs. Anything can happen. Games tighten up. That could favor a Gotham defense that has hardly missed a beat through all their injuries.

Even with all the discussion of how ‘healthy’ KC are, every team is banged up at this stage of the year. They might not list players on the injury report, but nagging pains linger.

And emotions are running high. After the win over Angel City, Michelle Cooper said “it’s personal.” Izzy Rodriguez said the same thing this week. Emotions can get the best of players, and they can push a little too hard and make a mistake.

Will the KC Current slay the Bats? Or will Gotham make it to back-to-back NWSL Finals with a chance to defend their title? Tune in Sunday.

Semifinal Match Preview: KC Current at Gotham FC