Having struggled for consistency in recent weeks, Austin FC and Charlotte FC will be looking to pick up a morale-boosting result when they square off at the Q2 Stadium on Saturday.
This will be the first meeting between the two sides since July 2022, when the Verde and Black scrapped a 1-0 victory in North Carolina courtesy of a second-half strike from Venezuelan midfielder Daniel Pereira.
Match preview
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Austin FC continue to struggle for results in the Western Conference as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of FC Dallas when the sides met at the Toyota Stadium on Wednesday night.
In a game where Sebastian Driussi received his marching orders, Paul Arriola and Gyasi Zardes scored for either side to end the first half level before Petar Musa and Marco Farfan netted second-half goals to hand Dallas all three points.
Josh Wolff's men have now lost three of their last most recent games — conceding seven goals and scoring twice — and have managed just two wins in 10 matches since mid-May.
Austin now returns home where they have struggled for results in recent weeks, losing twice and claiming one win in their last four matches, having won each of their previous five games preceding this run.
With 30 points from 24 matches, the Verde and Black are currently 10th in the Western Conference standings, level on points with ninth-placed Minnesota United and six points off the automatic playoff places with 10 games to go.
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Charlotte FC, on the other hand, continued their fine run of results on the road as they fought back from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw with Columbus Crew at the Lower.com Field..
In-form striker Cucho Hernandez continued his red-hot streak in front of goal as he opened the scoring in the 31st minute to put the Crew in front but Patrick Agyemang struck with seven minutes left in the game to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Charlotte snapped their run of two back-to-back defeats on July 14, when they secured a 3-1 victory over 10-man Cincinnati at the TQL Stadium courtesy of goals from Iuri Tavares, Liel Abada and Kerwin Calderon Vargas.
Dean Smith's men head into the weekend unbeaten in four of their last five away matches — picking up three wins and one draw — with a 1-0 defeat against Houston Dynamo at the Shell Energy Stadium on June 30 being the exception.
Charlotte have picked up 36 points from their 24 MLS matches so far to sit sixth in the Eastern Conference standings and could move into fourth place with all three points on Saturday.
Team News
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Austin will have to cope without star forward Driussi, who is currently suspended after picking up a straight red card against Dallas.
In his absence, former Chile international Diego Rubio should come into the fold, forming the attacking quartet with Ethan Finlay, Jader Obrian and striker Zardes.
At the defensive end of the pitch, we expect an unchanged back four of Jon Gallagher, Julio Cascante, Leo Vaeisaenen and Guilherme Biro shielding 33-year-old Brad Stuver between the sticks.
As for Charlotte, Smith will be unable to name 35-year-old midfielder Junior Urso, who has missed each of the last six matches since coming off injured against DC United on June 16.
English defender Nathan Byrne will also sit out Saturday's game through suspension after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Columbus Crew.
Bill Tuiloma should replace Byrne this weekend, teaming up with Adilson Malanda, Andrew Privett and 30-year-old Jere Uronen in the back four, with Kristijan Kahlina starting in goal once again.
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Gallagher, Cascante, Vaeisaenen, Biro; Wolff, Pereira; Finlay, Rubio, Obrian; Zardes
Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:
Kahlina; Tuiloma, Malanda, Privett, Uronen; Westwood, Diani; Abada, Bronico, Vargas; Agyemang
We say: Austin FC 1-1 Charlotte FC
Buoyed by their resilient display against the Crew, Charlotte will take on Austin with confidence as they look to strengthen their position in the playoff places. However, both sides are evenly matched on paper and we predict that they will settle for a share of the spoils at the Q2 Stadium.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
