Photo Copyright Nick Tre. Smith for USA TODAY Sports

When the Orlando Pride faced the Kansas City Current in July, the teams were tied on points and battling for the top spot. National Women’s Football League table. They also wanted to go into the Olympic break with a decisive victory.

And as Dan Lauletta wrote at the time, the match lived up to expectations.

“The game was very intense, and I think that’s no different with two really strong teams. And nobody wanted to leave anything on the field,” Kansas City defender Izzy Rodriguez said after the game.

Despite being down a player for the entire second half after defender Carrie Lawrence was sent off, Orlando emerged victorious with goals from Barbra Banda and Marta, the latter scoring the game-winning goal from a penalty in the 63rd minute.

Having already secured a spot in the NWSL playoffs, the Pride will now put their record streak of 20 consecutive regular-season games without a loss on the line against the league’s most prolific offense.

Here are three storylines to watch in the highly anticipated rematch between Pride and Current on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video:

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1. The secret of the impulse

There’s a lot of talk about “momentum” in sports, and Orlando definitely seems to have the advantage here. They picked up right where they left off at the break, shutting out all three of their regular-season opponents to win six games in a row.

Kansas City were not so lucky, although they reached the final of the inaugural Summer Cup and won the Women’s Cup during the break. The Current returned to NWSL action with a surprise 4-1 loss away to Washington Spirit and a 2-1 loss to North Carolina Courage. However, they bounced back on Saturday with a 1-0 home win over the Utah Royals.

“It’s probably the first game we’re going into with the mindset that we have nothing to lose,” Kansas City coach Vlatko Andonovski said in a press conference on Thursday about the game against Orlando. “We’re playing against arguably one of the best teams the league has ever had, without question the best team in the league, so we’re going into it pretty relaxed to be honest. We want to get a result and be successful in this game, but we’re going into the game with almost no pressure.”

Will Orlando’s continued success give them a boost? Or will Kansas City be even more motivated to close the nine-point gap?

2. The leaders of the Golden Shoe

The other big number before the July game was the goal tally of strikers Banda and Temwa Chawinga. They were tied at the top of the league and both scored in that game, but Chawinga now has the edge with 15 goals to Banda’s 12.

“She’s a great player and her stats show it,” Orlando coach Seb Hines said of Chawinga during a press conference this week. “There’s no other player like her in the league, so we have to be focused at all times. We have to be proactive.”

Keep an eye on these two for spectacular runs and big counterattacks. With 0.78 and 0.86 expected goals per 90 minutes, Chawinga and Banda have emerged as two of the most exciting players to watch, despite both playing their first NWSL season.

3. The emotions (and the cards)

In addition to Lawrence’s two yellow cards, seven more were issued and 29 fouls were committed in the July game, including a collision between Kansas City goalkeeper AD Franch and Orlando’s Adriana that led to a penalty.

It was a hard-fought and fast-paced game: both teams scored 37 shots on goal, 12 of which were on target.

Although neither coach was looking for a “rematch,” it’s safe to assume that this will be another physical, if not combative, game as Orlando and Kansas City near the end of the regular season.