After the USWNT’s 2-1 win over China PR in Kennesaw, Atlanta on Saturday night, Pia Sundhage’s team reunites with the Steel Roses in Chester, Pennsylvania tonight. The friendly will be televised on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET and will be streamed on ESPN3.com. It’s game preview time done in typical ’list of questions’ form. You know the drill.

Goalkeeper

Nicole Barnhart is the USWNT’s #1. How will she do?

Jillian Loyden got the start in Saturday’s match but wasn’t tested all that often. China could only offer up six shots, half of which were on goal. Nicole Barnhart is the USWNT’s default #1 in place of an injured Hope Solo. This is the final tune-up match before CONCACAF Women’s World Cup qualifying and it will be interesting to see how Barnhart will do behind a pretty unfamiliar back line. Does the fact that Barnhart is probably well-rested after a non-eventful WPS Championship game and a three week break mean anything?

The defense

Is Becky Sauerbrunn auditioning for the part of outside back?

WPS’ iron woman finished the season playing mostly as a central defender but given the USWNT’s paucity of outside backs, Sauerbrunn could be making a return stint to the National Team. Both Ali Krieger and Stephanie Cox were dropped for this match so Coach Sundhage is probably testing out the other options she has at her disposal. Sauerbrunn is a quality defender with intelligence and experience. If she plays well enough tonight, she could help put an end to the endless shuffling of the back four.

(Side note: Is Kandace Wilson ever going to get a call-up? She’s youngish, is quick as lightning, is capable of making some excellent overlapping runs and - best of all – plays at left-back. Hmmm.)

Who will it be tonight: Rampone/LePeilbet or Buehler/LePeilbet?

Match reports suggest that the Rampone/LePeilbet duo seemed tentative on Saturday night. It takes time for a central defensive pairing to take root. Coach Sundhage has gotten some good mileage from the Buehler/LePeilbet partnership in 2010. If the left-back question isn’t answered, Buehler will probably be marooned out wide for World Cup qualifying. The USWNT will lose some of its edge in defense if that happens. We’ll if Coach Sundhage opts to give the veteran Rampone another shot at cementing her place alongside the dependable LePeilbet.

Who starts at right-back?

Hometown girl Heather Mitts has been called up for the friendly. As has been mentioned, Krieger and Cox have been dropped. Sauerbrunn can probably play on the right but it should be Mitts’ domain tonight. Mitts’ has been less than dominant this year, given her age and injury concerns. This is probably another audition for the World Cup qualifying squad. If she doesn’t nail it, Krieger and Cox will likely nab the part.

Midfield

Is Yael Averbuch acting as a Leslie Osborne stand-in?

This is probably wishful thinking but Averbuch was used in central midfield on Sunday, rather than the wide position she occupied in the Mexico friendlies earlier this year. That means that Coach Sundhage has seen the light opted to play a true holding midfielder. However, she was inserted to a flat midfield four so maybe she wasn’t a “true” holding midfielder in the way Osborne was for the Boston Breakers. Granted, this will probably mean little as Carli Lloyd is probably going to earn her spot back from Lindsey, Averbuch and possibly Osborne.

Lori Lindsey has been dropped. Does it mean anything?

Lori Lindsey has had unnervingly inconsistent performances for the USWNT this season, and sometimes in a single match. She reportedly had a very poor turn on Sunday but in fairness, she had very little time to recover from the Independence’s exhausting playoff run. I simply refer you back to the last sentence of the previous answer.

Has Megan Rapinoe sealed a permanent place on the wing?

It’s entirely possible. In the previous China friendly, creativity seemed to stem from the flanks. Rapinoe was a big part of that. Rapinoe has had two solid performances for the USWNT now, which is a far cry from her disappointing club form this season. Perhaps we can put our trust in the USWNT version of Rapinoe. Her silly goal celebrations don’t hurt.

Is this is the beginning of a Tarpley renaissance?

Together again for the first time. This is probably Tarpley’s best chance of getting back into the USWNT set-up. She had a fine campaign with the Boston Breakers contributing four goals and three assists and will hope to continue her form. Tarpley could provide Coach Sundhage with another option on the wing. Kelley O’Hara’s exclusion from the squad (who I should is probably carrying a bit up of an injury) might also play in Tarpley’s favor.

Up top

Will the strikers be more productive this time around?

In the last China go-around, both goals came from the flanks. Rodriguez had her typical “oh A-Rod, you gotta finish off those chances” moment(s) after subbing in for Lauren Cheney who got the start. The forward line got the lion’s share of the goal-scoring opportunities in the Sweden friendlies. Perhaps there will be more balance between the strikers and the outside midfielders this time around. And has Abby Wambach’s strike partner been 100% determined yet?

Will Morgan provide a glimpse into the future?

Alex Morgan was called up for the friendly which means she’ll likely make a cameo appearance. She hasn’t looked wildly out of place in her previous two USWNT appearances and seemed to have made an immediate connection with Wambach in the Germany friendly. The Cal senior has got the athleticism and composure that bodes well for her chances of becoming the next generation’s USWNT’s forward. It will be particularly interesting to see her pair up with Rodriguez or Cheney, as that will likely be the strike partnership post-2011. It’s hard to imagine a USWNT front line without Wambach though.

Ok, see you after the match and take heart, this will may well be the last televised USWNT game of the calendar year.

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