Preview: Austin FC vs. Sporting Kansas City – prediction, team news, lineups
Sports Mole looks ahead to Sunday’s Major League Soccer clash between Austin FC and Sporting Kansas City, including predictions, team news and potential line-ups.
Looking for their first consecutive league win this season, Sporting Kansas City Take a trip to Q2 Stadium to compete Austin F.C on Saturday.
The home team, which wins twice in a row, wins against it peter verme‘s men will try to continue in the same direction and strengthen their position in the upper echelons of the Western Conference table.
game preview
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Austin FC continue to struggle for form after a thrilling 3-3 draw against a hard-hitting San Jose Earthquakes side last Sunday.
A first half brace off Sebastian Driussi and Julio Cascante saw the home side lead 3-2 at half-time, but the 25-year-old striker Jeremy Ebobisse two minutes left in the game to force part of the loot.
Josh WolffThe side of now have not won all but one of their last seven games at Q2 Stadium – three losses and three draws – the only exception being a 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo on July 13.
With 45 points from 24 games, Austin FC is currently second in the Western Conference standings, six points behind first-place finisher Los Angeles FC, who have one game left.
Their good performances this season are due in no small part to their impressive display on the attacking side of the field, where the Texas team boasts the league’s best record with 50 goals scored to date.
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Sporting Kansas City, on the other hand, finally gave their fans something to celebrate as they clinched an exciting 4-2 win over LA Galaxy at Children’s Mercy Park.
After being 3-0 down at the break thanks to a brace William Agada and Eric Thomas‘s opening game in the 10th minute, former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez hit twice within nine minutes to reduce the deficit beforehand Daniel Salloi sealed the home side’s victory with a goal in the 95th minute.
Previously, the Wizards were on a four-game losing streak in all competitions, a streak that saw their US Open Cup campaign come to an end when they were beaten on penalties by Sacramento Republic, the USL championship team.
Sporting Kansas City, who now have 23 points from 25 games, are currently bottom of the Western Conference standings but could move up to 12th place with all three points this weekend.
Form of Austin FC Major League Soccer:
Form of Sporting Kansas City Major League Soccer:
Form of Sporting Kansas City (all competitions):
Team News
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With his brace at the weekend, Driussi has taken his tally to 16 goals at the top of the MLS scorers list and the Austin FC forward will certainly be one to watch.
Due to injury, Wolf will not be able to use the Colombian midfielder’s services Jojan Valenciawho injured his knee in May’s 2-1 win over Los Angeles FC.
The defensive duo of Hector Jimenez and Freddie Kleeman won’t play a role this weekend either as they are currently recovering from groin and ACL injuries respectively.
Meanwhile, the away side will be without several key players in the backbone of the squad as defenders Kortne Thompson Fordmidfield player Ozzie Cisneros and further Alan Pulido all continue their spells on the sidelines.
Israeli midfielder Gadi somehow continues his long road to full fitness after sustaining a serious knee injury last November Nikola Vujnovic got a calf problem in May.
Newly signed attacker Agada opened his account for the club when he scored twice against LA Galaxy last time out and the Nigeria international should keep his place in the starting XI.
Austin FC possible starting line-up:
Stuver; Lima, Gabrielsen, Cascante, Gallagher; Pereira, Ring, Finlay; Driussi, Fagundez, Urruti
Sporting Kansas City possible starting line-up:
heartbeat; Pierre, Fontas, Isimat-Mirin, sweat; Walter, Hernandez, Thommy; Russell, Agada, Salloi
We say: Austin FC 2-2 Sporting Kansas City
Buoyed by last weekend’s win, Sporting Kansas City will head into Saturday with renewed confidence as they attack from the bottom of the conference standings. While facing Austin FC is a tough task for any team in the division, we support the Wizards to do just enough to leave with a share of the loot.
For data analysis of the most likely outcomes, goal scores and more for this game, please click here.