The two newest clubs to Major League Soccer will face each other for the first time on Thursday as Charlotte FC wrap up the month of June at Bank of America Stadium by hosting Austin FC.
Charlotte dropped below the Eastern Conference playoff line last weekend, losing 2-1 away at CF Montreal, while The Verde and Black are third in the West following a come from behind 2-2 draw at home to Dallas on Saturday.
Match preview
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No matter how hard they try, the Crown cannot seem to find a way to win on the road, collecting just two points away from home so far in their inaugural campaign.
Interim manager Christian Lattanzio felt like his side deserved better last weekend, as he suffered his first defeat since taking over from Miguel Angel Ramirez.
Throughout the campaign, this has been a team who expand a ton of energy and work hard collectively to keep their matches close, and with a little more quality in the attacking third, they could be in a top-seven position.
The one thing that has enabled them to remain in the running for a postseason berth is the home crowd in North Carolina, who have been like a 12th man for them this year, with Charlotte collecting 18 points in front of their fans.
They do not fare well when suffering an early setback, collecting just a single point after conceding the opening goal, while losing only once this year when scoring first.
There is a belief that even though Charlotte have lacked dynamic ball movement and individual quality, the proper formation could provide them with that extra gear, which might help them earn more points in the future.
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It is rarely a straightforward match when Austin FC take to the field, but in the end all that counts is the final score, and plenty of those have gone their way recently, with the Texans collecting points in four of their previous five MLS affairs.
Josh Wolff has to be pleased with the resilience and determination shown by this team in their inaugural campaign, losing only one of their last four league contests this season in which they trailed by two goals.
So far in 2022, Austin have picked up 13 points away from home, thanks to some offensive outbursts in the latter stages of those games, as eight of their 12 goals scored on the road have come in the second half.
Austin have outperformed their expected goals throughout the campaign, tallying the second-most times domestically (31) behind only Los Angeles FC.
As the schedule has been more demanding, we have seen them slow down a little, but not as much as many suggested, as they are in a position to host a home playoff game and are five points back of the top spot in the Western Conference.
Their undoing in their inaugural campaign last year was a lack of star quality, and in 2022, they have filtered most of their attacks through some of those high-quality talents acquired last summer, and those newcomers have made a massive difference.
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Team News
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Charlotte will be without midfielder Alan Franco for the remainder of the campaign after loaning the Ecuadorian international to Atletico Talleres in the Argentine Primera Division.
The Crown are still missing a couple of players with injuries, such as Vinicius Mello (left foot surgery) and Adam Armour (left knee surgery).
Guzman Corujo tallied his first of the season in their defeat to Montreal last weekend, while Andre Shinyashiki has three goals and an assist in 413 minutes of action since his trade to Charlotte.
Ben Bender has three goals and three assists in 2022, putting him in second and first respectively in those team categories.
He and Derrick Jones scored in their previous home fixture, which ended in a 2-0 victory versus the New York Red Bulls as Kristijan Kahlina only had to make one save to collect the clean sheet.
Austin remain without the services of Freddy Kleemann and Jhojan Valencia, who are suffering from left and right knee injuries respectively, while Daniel Pereira is eligible to return after missing their match against Dallas due to a yellow card suspension.
Sebastian Driussi is tied for first alongside Jeremy Ebobisse and Jesus Ferreira in the Golden Boot race, notching his ninth of the campaign last weekend.
Danny Hoesen picked up his second of the season, which helped them earn a point against the Toros as Nick Lima and Moussa Djitte picked up assists in that match.
Maximiliano Urruti has five goals on the year, netting in their road victory at Montreal earlier this month as Brad Stuver stopped two shots in that game to collect his first clean sheet away from home in 2022.
Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:
Kahlina; Fuchs, Walkes, Corujo, Lindsey; Hegardt, Bronico, Bender; Alcivar; Swiderski, Shinyashiki
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Jimenez, Romana, Gabrielsen, Kolmanic; Ring, Finlay; Pereira, Driussi, Fagundez, Urruti
We say: Charlotte FC 1-2 Austin FC
By no means have Austin been spectacular away from home, but they always seem to find the mark over a 90-minute encounter.
Unfortunately for Charlotte, the raucous crowd cannot defend the Verde and Black's quality in the final third, which should be enough to earn them another victory away from home.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
