Los Angeles FC look to break out of an extended slump when Austin FC visit on Wednesday.
LAFC (11-9-9, 42 points) are in sixth place in the Western Conference. A 1-4-6 record in their last 11 matches has sent the team sliding down the standings. The midseason slump cost coach Marc Dos Santos his job, but Los Angeles didn’t turn things around in its first match under interim coach Xavi Tamarit.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps saw LAFC play almost the entire match with an 11-on-10 advantage, as Vancouver’s Tristan Blackmon was red-carded in the seventh minute.
“Sometimes we think it’s going to be easier against 10, but sometimes it’s like they get more together. They were more compact in a low block many times and it was harder for us,” Tamarit said after the match.
Austin FC (7-11-10, 31 points) sit in 13th place in the West, five points behind the Los Angeles Galaxy for the ninth and final playoff berth.
An eight-match unbeaten run in regular-season play (3-0-5) helped restore Austin’s postseason hopes, but the streak was emphatically broken in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to league-leading Nashville SC.
Interim coach Davy Arnaud felt his team wasn’t cohesive in the loss, but he noted “we’re still in” the playoff race.
“I know they’re going to respond in the right way and go to LA and not only have hopefully a better result, but the performance that we’re proud of,” Arnaud said Saturday. “Because we weren’t proud of that performance in any way. We can lose a game, but we don’t want to lose a game like that.”
The Verde have 36 goals, tied for fifth-fewest in MLS. Austin’s inconsistent attack will face an LAFC defense that has allowed the third-fewest goals in the league (31).
Christian Ramirez leads Austin FC with nine goals, with four of those tallies coming in the Verde’s last four matches. Facundo Torres has four goals and a team-high eight assists.
LAFC striker Denis Bouanga has 15 goals, tying him for seventh in the MLS Golden Boot race. Son Heung-Min is tied for second in the league with 13 assists.
The two sides played to a 0-0 draw in Austin on March 21.
–Field Level Media
