Gotham FC vs Washington Spirit NWSL Championship preview: It all comes down to this | OneFootball

For the second time in three years, NJ/NY Gotham FC has made it to the NWSL Championship game despite entering the playoffs as the lowest seed. They won in their previous appearance, defeating Seattle Reign FC in 2023. They will face the Washington Spirit, who have made it back to the Championship game for the second consecutive year, losing to the Orlando Pride in 2024.

Gotham has gotten to this point following an up-and-down regular season. A rocky start, followed by an incredibly strong middle, and ending on a down note meant they had to face the record-setting Kansas City Current in the first round of the playoffs. They pulled off the impossible, though, beating the Current 2-1 thanks to a late winner from Katie Stengel. They then had to rely on late heroics, yet again in the semifinals, thanks to a Jaedyn Shaw free kick that downed the defending champions, Orlando, again on the road in stoppage time.

While Washington had a slightly smoother time on the surface, they still had bumps in the road. Most notably, they went through a coaching change in the summer that saw Jonatan Giráldez leave for sister club OL Lyonnes and be replaced by assistant coach Adrián González. The Spirit still finished the regular season in second with 44 points. They got through these playoffs thanks to a win on penalty kicks over Racing Louisville FC, then followed that up with a 2-0 win over Portland Thorns FC, both at home.

This will be the fourth meeting in 2025 between the two clubs and the 44th all-time, the most of any two NWSL clubs in league history. Notably, Washington is yet to score against Gotham this season, with 3-0 and 0-0 results in NWSL play and another 0-0 in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup group stage. So, here is a preview of Saturday's Championship match.

Gotham FC vs Washington Spirit preview

Date

The game will be played on Saturday, November 22.

Time

The match is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM EST, 5:00 PM PST.

How to watch

The fixture will be broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. There is a pregame show beginning at 6:30 PM EST on CBS Sports Goalzo Network before transitioning to CBS at 7:30 PM EST.

Location

The game will be played at PayPal Park in San jose, California

Weather

Temperatures will be at 60 degrees at kickoff before dropping to 56 at the end of the game. Humidity will hover around 60-70% throughout the match, with wind speeds being below 5 mph. There is also a less than 5% chance of rain with sunset scheduled for 4:53 PM PST.

Injury report

Tierna Davidson (SEI – knee) and Taryn Torres (SEI – knee) are the only unavailable players for the NWSL Championship.

Players to watch

Shaw is clearly the player to watch for Gotham. From the famous "underdog my ass" quote after beating Kansas City, which has now been immortalized on a t-shirt, to scoring or assisting on all three of the Bats' goals in this playoff run, Shaw has already left her mark on this team. This is regardless of how the championship ends. It would be difficult to imagine a Gotham win that does not involve her playing some role in said victory.

Fans should also watch Washington's Trinity Rodman. Her role will be a significant factor in determining the outcome of this game. She has only played 32 minutes in these teams' three previous meetings this season and just one minute in their two playoff games. How many minutes she's able to play on Saturday is still unknown, although it is rumored to be around 30 minutes. With the prospect of extra time being a factor, how the game has played out in its final stages will be a huge determining factor in just how long Rodman will see the field for.

Prediction

Both teams are gunning for their second-ever NWSL Championships on Saturday, with both having taken long routes to get here. From both teams being historically bad back in 2018 to winning a championship in 2021 for the Spirit and 2023 for Gotham, to now being just 90 minutes away from winning their second title in less than five years, shows a truly remarkable turnaround for the teams, both on and off the field

The prediction is a 2-0 victory for Gotham FC. Goals will come from Shaw, and Rose Lavelle will score her first of the 2025 playoffs as well. Honestly, though, this game could go either way. Despite the large gap in seeding of the two clubs, they are two evenly matched sides that should result in a closely fought game on Saturday, with both teams having a really good shot of coming out on top.