Austin FC host Sporting Kansas City on Sunday on matchday 14 of the 2024 Major League Soccer season, looking to make it five successive victories at the Al Saqr Stadium.
The away team, however, will be aiming to break their six-game streak without a win following a disappointing beginning to the year.
Match preview
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Austin have had an extremely inconsistent three finishes in the Western Conference since joining MLS in 2021, finishing 12th twice sandwiched around a second-place finish in 2022.
Josh Wolff, who has been in charge for the entirety of Austin's time in MLS, has endured even more inconsistency this season thus far, failing to win in any of their first five before five wins in the following eight.
They find themselves in sixth place coming into this game, owing largely to their phenomenal home form so far this year as they have picked up the fourth-most points of any side across the Western and Eastern Conferences when playing in their own ground.
Austin will now be looking to strengthen their position in the MLS Cup playoff spots with a fifth successive victory at the Q2 Stadium, something they have never managed in their time in MLS.
Kansas will be aiming to prevent that from happening on Sunday, but with three losses in their three trips to the Q2 Stadium, Austin will be confident of victory.
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Peter Vermes, who has been in charge of Kansas for 15 years, will want to see an improvement from his team in this one as they look to bring an end to a six-game winless run in the league.
They are currently 13th with 11 points in the Western Conference, a point above bottom-placed San Jose Earthquakes, with the joint-fewest victories of any side across the 29 clubs in MLS.
Despite failing to record a victory against Austin when playing away from home, Kansas have shown they are capable of wins in this fixture, most notably winning 4-1 in June last year.
If Vermes's men are to follow up last season's qualification to the MLS Cup playoffs they must improve on their recent results, especially as they already trail ninth-placed St Louis City by five points.
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Team News
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Ethan Finlay remains as the only absentee for the hosts with the midfielder set to be out until early June due to a hamstring injury.
Sebastian Driussi has been Austin's top scorer in each of the last two seasons and, despite missing the beginning of this campaign, once again leads the way with four goals in 10.
The visitors will be unable to call upon the services of four players for this one owing to a series of injuries.
Daniel Rosero, Kayden Pierre and Remi Walter are all expected to be out until later this month or early next month.
Logan Ndenbe has been on the treatment table since November last year after suffering a cruciate ligament injury that is expected to keep him out of the team until July.
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Gallagher, Cascante, Hines-Ike, Kolmanic; Pereira, Ring; Obrian, Driussi, Rigoni; Rubio
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Davis, Fontas, Voloder, Leibold; Rodriguez, Radoja; Russell, Pulido, Salloi; Agada
We say: Austin FC 3-1 Sporting Kansas City
Austin have been brilliant at home in their recent outings and are now on the verge of breaking their record for most successive wins at home since joining the MLS, and we believe they will do just that with a victory against an out-of-sorts Kansas.
This fixture has provided plenty of goals in their recent meetings, and we expect that theme to continue in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
