Minnesota United and short-handed Austin FC will look to continue their successful starts to the season when they meet Saturday night in a Western Conference match in Austin, Texas.
The sides are tied with 16 points through 10 matches, but the Verde (5-4-1) are in third place thanks to a one-game win advantage over fourth-place Minnesota (4-2-4).
Austin heads home after a 2-0 loss to the rival Houston Dynamo last weekend in the first Copa Tejas match of 2025. The Verde played without leading offensive cog Brandon Vazquez because of an undisclosed illness and lost key playmaking midfielder Dani Pereira to an upper leg injury 29 minutes into the game.
Vazquez remains doubtful for Saturday’s match while Pereira is set to miss at least the next four weeks because of a hip flexor injury.
Ten games into the season, Austin FC have just seven goals and have produced more than one goal in a match only once. Austin’s goal differential is minus-3, among the bottom five in the West, but the team has a winning mark, thanks to quality defense and a league-high five clean sheets by goalkeeper Brad Stuver.
“We have to improve our maturity, and we have to improve our poise when we fall behind,” Austin coach Nico Estevez said. “We need to use our brain and not our heart and emotions. We want to react quickly (to tie the game) because this sport doesn’t always allow you to score first.”
The Loons, meanwhile, will venture to the Texas capital after a 3-1 loss to West-leading Vancouver on Sunday. The setback was Minnesota’s first at home this year and snapped its eight-match unbeaten streak overall. The effect of the defeat was still on the mind of Loons coach Eric Ramsay at mid-week as he prepared his team for Austin FC.
“Usually we are able to shake that off, but the overall flatness of the performance, the lack of energy, the lack of a spark and even the way the stadium felt was worrisome,” Ramsay said. “We should have been the dominant team and we weren’t. Hopefully, that means something to everyone heading into Saturday’s game.”
–Field Level Media
