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Something has to give when the Vancouver Whitecaps, one of MLS’s best road teams, travels south and east to battle Austin FC, one of the toughest sides at home, on Saturday in a Western Conference match.

The Whitecaps (11-8-5, 38 points) head to the capital of the Lone Star State on the heels of a 1-0 win over Pacific FC in the Canadian Championship semifinal on Tuesday, with the winning goal coming on a second-half tally by Ryan Gauld.

Saturday’s match is Vancouver’s first in MLS play since a 4-3 home loss to Houston on July 20 that ended a five-match unbeaten stretch for the Whitecaps. Four of those games were wins.

Vancouver begins the weekend in sixth place in the West, three points and two spots below the line for a first-round home playoff series with 10 matches to play. The Whitecaps have forged a 6-4-3 record on the road, the best in the West.

Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini explained that possession will be a key for his team against the quick-strike Austin attack.

“We need to be always very, very, very present,” Sartini said. “Even if we’re going to have some spell of possession, we need to be very present, because in transition, Austin is lethal. So the organization, both offensively and defensively, will be very important.”

Austin is in ninth place in the conference, one point ahead of Dallas for the wild-card match for the postseason with eight contests left on its regular-season schedule. The Verde (9-10-7, 34 points) are playing their first home match in more than a month and head home after a 2-0 win at Nashville on Aug. 24, their first in MLS play since July 6.

Austin is 6-3-4 at home.

Jon Gallagher and Osman Bukari found the net for the Verde in that victory, with the latter scoring the first goal of his MLS career. Alex Ring set the table for Gallagher’s goal with a dead-on pass that moved him to the top on the team’s all-time assist table with 24 across all competitions.

Austin has secured 10 points in its past seven league matches after earning just two points (on two draws) in its previous five MLS contests. The Verde are as healthy as they’ve been all season and it showed in the win at Nashville.

“We have competition (amongst the players) for the first time in a long time,” Austin coach Josh Wolff said. “We have the ability to maneuver based on what we think gives the team the best chance to win.”

The sides have played seven times, with the Whitecaps winning four of those matches and Austin capturing one. There have been two draws in the series, including a scoreless tie between the teams on May 4 in Vancouver.

–Field Level Media