Match Preview - Charlotte FC
Game Info
Kickoff: 7:40pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Q2 Stadium - Austin, TX
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has an all-time record of 1W-0L-0D against Charlotte FC.
The Verde & Black won the first meeting between the two teams by a 1-0 scoreline back in the 2022 season (Charlotte’s expansion year) off a Dani Pereira strike from distance.
Charlotte FC Recent Form
Charlotte enters this weekend’s matchup with two very solid results in tow – a road win against FC Cincinnati and a draw versus the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew. While the Eastern Conference is not filled with as many quality teams as the West, Columbus and Cincy are two of the top teams league-wide. Those four points have allowed Charlotte to have a bit of breathing room as they enter the final 10 games of the season a full three points clear of Orlando City SC for 6th place.
With just 28 goals on the season, the success Charlotte has enjoyed this year has been mostly due to their stellar defense. As mentioned on Episode 160, Charlotte leads the league in clean sheets and only allows a hair more than one goal per game. Croatian keeper Kristijan Kahlina felt like an All-Star Game snub and has been at the top of his game since arriving in MLS in January of 2022. He’s aided by a formidable backline that is stout and disciplined. CB Andrew Privett and LB Jere Uronen secure the left side of the formation and are supported by rising star center back Adilson Malanda and right back Nathan Byrne. Uronen is the most versatile of the four and routinely finds himself in the offensive third to help support Charlotte’s rather anemic offense and has racked up four assists on the season.
You may remember Austin being rumor-tied to winger Liel Abada earlier in the year, but he ended up landing with Charlotte. He has paired well with other offensive weapons Patrick Agyemang and Kerwin Vargas to round out their attack. Agyemang leads the team in goal contributions with seven goals and two assists.
Charlotte FC is content to allow their opponents to possess the ball, sit back and play sound defense. Typically, this team does not like to utilize a high-press as can be seen by their ranking of 23rd in the league in possession won in the final third per match, but that may be a tactical change when they visit Q2.
I believe Charlotte would be satisfied with a point on the road this Saturday. Their performance this season is a drastic improvement results-wise from where they’ve been each of their first two seasons. Now just two points back from a top four slot in the Eastern Conference with more summer transfer window reinforcements expected to arrive including DP forward Karol Swiderski (who is returning from a loan spell and expected to be active for this game), Charlotte is aiming high to end the regular season.
Austin’s Recent Form
WOOF. The vibes are not tight. What a miserable week it has been for the Verde and Black. From the extracurricular activities before and during the Seattle match to the disastrous second half in Dallas, nothing has gone right for Austin over the last six days. The wheels seem to be falling off this wagon at a time when we, the fans and franchise, should be ecstatic for what's to come. Let’s start with the bad, and see if we can make ourselves feel better with a sweet, sweet dose of hopium at the end.
Austin has now lost two in a row, both to Western Conference opponents that are right in the thick of the playoff race with us. ATX now sits tied on points for the final wild card spot with Minnesota. However, Minnesota currently owns the second tie-breaker (goal differential) over Austin, so if the season ended today there would be no additional soccer in central Texas. Fortunately for us, that is not the case. Wednesday’s loss paired with the Dallas win, puts our foes from Friso just a point behind Austin with a potentially healthy Jesus Ferreira and Alan Velasco on the way back in August. Did I mention that the vibes were not tight?
Calls for Josh Wolff’s job have intensified mightily. Rightfully so, as Austin’s offense has been HISTORICALLY bad. Seriously, go check out @boknowsdata on Twitter to see for yourself (we also re-tweeted his graphic, but give him a follow!). It’s been flat out unwatchable at points this season and fans/players/personnel are justifiably frustrated.
That frustration, particularly within the group of guys, has been quite palpable of late. Team captain Sebastian Driussi is suffering through the biggest slump of his Austin FC tenure, and was just shown a straight red for the first time in his MLS career for his actions in the midweek match again FC Dallas.
Let’s be honest, if you’re reading this article, then you’ve seen the play plenty of times and I don’t need to go into great detail here. Take from it what you will, but at the end of the day, Seba won’t be available to play. Even if he’s not the right choice as captain, his absence is a significant blow to Austin’s talent floor and ceiling. On top of that, Austin will also be without the services of Julio Cascante due to yellow card accumulation.
At a point in the season when Austin seems to be lacking leadership and direction the most, the team will be without two of its most prominent voices. It creates two giant voids in our choice XI and leaves Coach Wolff and his staff with even more issues than they already had on their plate to begin with. This team has to find a way to win on Saturday and that starts with the coaches. With Leagues Cup approaching on the heels of this match, the situation surrounding Austin FC could get much uglier, super fast.
The deck will be stacked against them. It’s hard to feel anything but doom with the way things have been going and now facing one of the premier defenses in the league without Driussi. But this team will have to find a way.
I can’t lie, writing this the morning after that loss in Frisco has truly sucked. But what makes it even more painful is that this match was supposed to be a celebration! We were meant to be introducing new signings Osman Bukari and Mikkel Desler. The talent infusion, that we as fans have all been waiting for so desperately, has finally arrived. Both Desler and Bukari are eligible to play, but again, the vibes are not tight!
A few episodes back, ZG talked me into getting on board with the idea that both Bukari AND Desler would start. Now, he’s abandoned me thanks to the dark teachings of Landon Cotham at Moontower Soccer. All jokes aside, Landon’s line of thinking makes sense, but I’m going to stick to my guns. If my job was on the line, like Josh Wolff’s very much is, then I’m playing that man as many minutes as he’s fit to. Can he really not give us 60 minutes after being in individual and team training for more than 2.5 weeks? That’s almost half a preseason! Time is ticking on this team’s playoff hopes and achieving that goal is coming more into question by the game.
It’s hard to not feel “sports sad” about where this team is relative to the hot start to the year. That said, this is far from over. There are ten games left and this team still has an opportunity to achieve their goal of a postseason appearance. Even though they’ve arrived to the summer transfer window with a noticeable limp, this scrappy group of players has found a way to stay in touch with the playoff line and now the reinforcements have arrived. I’m going to take a step back from the doom and gloom that hangs heavy over Q2 Stadium and trust that we got through the most challenging part of this rebuilding process and as tough as it is to see, that better times are ahead. It’s always darkest before the dawn.
Injury Report
ATX - Sebastian Driussi (OUT - Not due to injury), Julio Cascante (OUT - Not due to injury)
CLT - Junior Urso (Out - Leg)
Charlotte Players to Watch
Liel Abada - The former Celtic winger is a real threat on the outside to any defense and Guilherme Biro will have to handle him. Abada has five goal contributions this season, with four goals and an assist. Three of his goals have come within the last three games as he seems to be getting more comfortable in Charlotte.
Ashley Westwood - A defensive midfielder who patrols the center of the pitch with vigor. Westwood is one of the many reasons Charlotte is one of the best defenses in the league. He’s also managed five goal contributions so far this season.
Austin Players to Watch
Osman Bukari - You know why.
Mikkel Desler - Ditto.
Austin’s Keys to the Game
Find A Way - The deck is stacked against Austin here without Seba. Guys will have to step up. I’m looking to Diego Rubio. If there was ever a personality on this roster that I feel like would truly embrace this challenge to step up and play big, Diego is at the top of that list. I imagine he gets the start in Seba’s place and Coach Wolff pushes Gyasi to the limit with another start at the nine. G has been on a roll as of late, with three goals in his last three games, and the club needs him to continue that form now more than ever. I feel confident that those two seasoned veterans have what it takes to step up now when the team needs them most.
Who Gets the Band? - The topic of whether or not Driussi is captain material is hot, hot, hot right now after his red card, but it’s a discussion for another day, because the team will have to give the band to someone in his absence. On the podcast, I said give it to Bradley Scott Stuver, ZG countered with Alex Ring. I’m fine either way. The band itself is symbolic, it’s all about how you wield and represent it that counts.
Predictions
E - 1-0 Austin FC
ZG - 2-1 Austin FC
