Match Preview - San Diego FC
Game Info
Kickoff: 3:09pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Q2 Stadium - Austin, TX
All-Time H2H Record
This is the first ever meeting between Austin FC and expansion side San Diego FC.
San Diego FC Recent Form
San Diego FC, the latest MLS expansion franchise, began play last month. They’re coming to Central Texas this weekend as the new hotness, undefeated through four matches and sitting on eight points, tied for second in the Western Conference table. Of course, they don’t really have “a history,” but I do want to provide some notes on the history of the sport in San Diego and how they’ve built the club before we dive into what we’ve seen over the first month of play.
This is not the first time that professional soccer has been played in San Diego. There were two NASL clubs that briefly passed through, the Toros in 1968 and the Jaws in 1976, each for just a single season. The Jaws returned in 1978 as the “Sockers”, and after the NASL folded in 1985, joined the Major Indoor Soccer League. There the Jaws had a ton of success, winning eight titles in nine seasons. That club folded in 1997 and while it was revived twice, both as indoor teams, curiosity in the recently founded MLS began to permeate the interest of the city’s soccer community.
But until recently, there have been multiple hurdles of various sizes and shapes that kept San Diego from landing an MLS team. For those who longed for MLS action in their city, maybe it’s best described as a roller coaster. First, the city considered but never submitted an expansion bid back in the 90’s as MLS was getting off the ground. Then, once they did register “official” interest, there was concern from the league over the lack of a soccer specific facility. Years later, there was a chance that Chivas USA (who ultimately landed in Los Angeles) would play in San Diego and then, a Liga MX side (Club Tijuana aka Xolos) was founded just across the border in 2007, siphoning some potential stateside-based MLS fans away.
Austin FC fans may be more familiar with former USL side, San Diego Loyal, that began play in 2020 before folding in late 2023. They were coached by USMNT legend Landon Donovan and current Austin FC forward C.J. Fodrey was a member of the Loyal during portions of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, scoring one goal across his six appearances.
The Loyal were dissolved just six months after MLS awarded the expansion bid to the San Diego-based ownership conglomerate that consisted of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation (a federally recognized Native American tribe) and a group of businessmen led by Mohamed Mansour, the one time Minister of Transportation in his native Egypt.
San Diego FC’s “honorary Rodney Redes award” for first player signed in club history was former Loyal goalkeeper Duran Ferree, who was signed in December 2023. The 18-year-old is currently on loan in Denmark with Nordsjælland (a club owned by Mansour… you will not hear me attempting this pronunciation on any North End Podcast episode) but the club has done a pretty impressive job filling out the rest of the roster leading up to the 2025 season.
Mansour also owns the “Right to Dream Academy”, a youth football academy system that is based in Accra, Ghana (where Osman Bukari was born) with branches in Egypt, Denmark and now in San Diego, scheduled to welcome its inaugural class this year. Since 2007, Right to Dream has produced more than 155 graduates playing professionally across the globe, with more than 65 of them receiving national team call-ups. Austin FC actually faced off against one of those graduates last weekend against LAFC in Yaw Yeboah, a 2023 MLS Cup Champion with Columbus Crew. The academy network Mansour has helped found is expected to be a huge boost for San Diego FC’s roster build in the near future.
But what about the actual team? I mentioned above that their expansion roster is impressive and that’s thanks to sporting director Tyler Heaps and head coach Mikey Varas. Heaps is just 33 (fuck me man, first a then 32-year-old Eric Ramsay takes over as Minnesota United’s head coach last year and now this... I shouldn’t feel this old at 34!), making him the youngest sporting director in the league. Varas on the other hand is a much more comforting 42 and was hired back in September with a resume sporting assistant coaching gigs at Sacramento Republic, FC Dallas (booooo) and the USMNT, as well as head coaching duties for the USYNT U-20s and a two-game interim stint for the USMNT last year. I probably shouldn’t leave out the club’s CEO, Tom Penn, either. He was the president of LAFC for their launch, which resulted in a third place finish in the Western Conference during their expansion season and a Supporter’s Shield trophy in their second year.
The club made a huge splash last summer when they signed their first designated player, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, from PSV Eindhoven. That move isn’t credited to Heaps or Varas, as neither had been hired by the club yet, but they’ve done well with the remaining acquisitions. Expansion sides get extra GAM, but San Diego FC is using a 2-4-GAM roster build, which is a big reason why they have the second most GAM in their coffers of any MLS team (NYCFC barely nudges them out of the top spot). That GAM stockpile will provide additional roster flexibility in the coming seasons, as all GAM (except GAM received from a 2-4-GAM roster build decision) no longer expires.
Outside of Lozano, here’s a short list of the notable signings San Diego made to fill out their expansion roster.
Anders Dreyer - Danish international who occupies their second DP slot. Dreyer was bought for a $5 million fee from Anderlecht in Belgium. He slots in on the right wing in San Diego’s 4-3-3.
Marcus Ingvartsen - Another Danish international who was last with Nordsjælland and coincidentally, also his first professional club. He also had previous stops wtih Mainz 05 and Union Berlin in Germany and a two year stint with Genk in Belgium. Plays up top in San Diego’s attack.
Luca de la Torre - A San Diego native who was with the USMNT during the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Copa America, de la Torre is on loan from Celta de Vigo in La Liga. He’s a box-to-box midfielder that has been great through the first month of the season and provided the assist to San Diego’s first ever home goal in their last game against Columbus. There is a purchase option in the loan.
Paddy McNair - The pillar of the San Diego back line, McNair has made over 300 appearances for clubs like Manchester United, Sunderland and Middlesbrough. He will miss this weekend’s match on international duty for Northern Ireland.
Andrés Reyes - San Diego traded $800k GAM for the former NYRB centerback in the offseason after he helped Red Bulls to the 2024 MLS Cup final. Reyes has yet to debut for his new club due to a lower body injury and coach Varas has been reserved as to when that debut will actually come.
Jeppe Tverskov - Another Danish international coming from Nordsjælland, Tverskov is a midfielder who had previously spent his entire career playing in his home country before arriving in San Diego for the 2025 season. He’s been one of the most steady players for the club through the first month, serving as the team’s captain and playing every single minute so far.
As I mentioned earlier, San Diego is undefeated through four matches. They’ve managed to score six goals, yet they’re under performing their xG of 7.5, a number that’s good for third in MLS to this point. They’ve also allowed just two goals, tied with Austin FC for second fewest in the Western Conference, behind St. Louis City SC (Austin’s opponent after San Diego).
But if you’re an avid listener of The North End Podcast, you won’t be the least bit surprised that I’m not buying into the early returns for this expansion side. While my doubt in St. Louis proved to be somewhat foolish in 2023, as their maiden MLS voyage ended up with them topping the Western Conference table that season, I think that San Diego is punching above their weight when it comes to the standings.
They’ve had an easy schedule. They cruised to victory on opening night against the defending champions LA Galaxy, but that squad is a shell of their former selves and would be the wooden spoon “winners” if the season ended today. Then they played St. Louis City SC to a draw in their home opener before stealing three points late on the road at Real Salt Lake. I’ll give them some credit there, it is tough to win at Rio Tinto.
But they were getting worked by Columbus before a red card sent the Crew down to ten men in the 61’ of that match. Even then, San Diego could only manage one goal against the shorthanded opponent. To be fair, they were also without Lozano in the last two matches after coming off injured in the home opener. He may return against Austin this weekend after the injury was deemed “not serious”.
San Diego wants to utilize a similar style of play to their “Right to Dream” counterparts in Denmark and Egypt. That means emphasizing quick decision making when in possession, seizing on every chance to go directly at any perceived disorganization in an opponent’s back line. When they lose the ball, they’ll press high in an attempt to win back possession. It’s an intense style that has pushed opponents early in the season. In my own opinion, they don’t have the depth to continue the early success over the long haul of an MLS season quite yet.
I also don’t think they have the horses to take down our beloved Austin FC at home this weekend. Both clubs will be missing a lengthy list of players due to both injury and the international window. But Austin has more quality depth and they should be the more talented side on paper this Sunday. But as we know all too well from opening night against St. Louis back in 2023, sleeping on an expansion side can blindside an overconfident team and send fans home disapppointed.
Austin FC Recent Form
From my point of view, it’s been a bit of an underwhelming start for Austin FC, relative to the potential ceiling that I thought this team had to begin the year. Now to be clear, I haven’t changed my expectation of this team being able to finish in a top four spot in the Western Conference. But it would be disingenuous to say that I expected this squad to put up just 0.5 goals per match over the first month. Hell, prior to the season opening match against Sporting KC, I would have said it was more likely that this version of Austin FC would average two goals per game over these first four instead of two being the total scoring tally for the Verde & Black.
Like most of you reading this article, I was very excited after the team upset LAFC on the road last Saturday afternoon. It was a breath of fresh air on the heels of two disappointing results at Portland and then back home against Colorado. But after my normal rewatch of the match the next morning, I was even more encouraged. Austin FC put on a clinic in Los Angeles. Sure, they were only able to score a single goal, but the way they limited LAFC’s chances and kept their mental lapses to a minimum was very impressive to me. On the defensive side of the ball, they looked like a team that had been playing together a lot longer than this group has.
That fits what you see in the stats for Austin through four games. While the offense has yet to record multiple goals in a game, the defense has also given up just a pair of goals. Credit should be given to Estévez’s staff. Of course, the players have to go out there an execute the game plan, but Austin has taken on much less water at the back per game this season compared to the first four years of play. That’s by design and it’s working swimmingly.
When you compare the first month of this season with last year, nearly everything is pointing in the right direction. As it should, considering at this point last year the club was still in a rebuilding phase and by their own admittance, just trying to “hang around the playoff line” through the first half of the season. But it’s always nice to see a plan coming to fruition, especially as drastically different as the stats are between 2024 and 2025.
Let’s pour a glass of Verde kool-aid and lay out a visual comparison.
The only number that doesn’t show marked improvement is the goals scored and those will come with time. One thing I’ve been trying to keep in mind, even before last week’s road trip out to Los Angeles, is that this is (hopefully) the “worst” that Austin FC will look this season. ATX started six field players in last Saturday’s victory that were not on the roster to begin the 2024 season and if Mikkel Desler wasn’t out with a hamstring injury it would have been seven. As the 2025 season progresses, it’s fair to say that this team will continue to build chemistry and to think that the best is yet to come.
So how does everyone’s favorite team line up this weekend? There will be more changes, as two starters from last week’s win, Myrto Uzuni and Oleksandr Svatok, are out on international duty. The available options off the bench will also look different, as Jimmy Farkarlun and Leo Väisänen are also with their respective national teams, with Väisänen looking like he might not be a member of the team much longer, as we discussed on Episode 208.
Coach Estévez deemed Julio Cascante “day-to-day” with his hamstring injury at Thursday’s media availability session. On Wednesday’s episode, I also discussed my thinking on why I expect Cascante to not just suit up, but start this weekend’s match. For me, the only other change to the starting lineup will be Jáder Obrian in for the absent Uzuni. I expect Estévez to return to the 4-3-3 look we saw in the season opener, with Obrian and Osman Bukari playing wing positions and Owen Wolff slotting into the attacking midfield and having a lot of freedom to impress us once more.
Even with Austin FC being slightly shorthanded, I view them as having a significant advantage in Sunday’s match. The absences for San Diego FC are more detrimental to their chances of sneaking another road result than Austin faltering at home.
Injury Report
ATX:
Mikkel Desler (Out - Hamstring)
Myrto Uzuni (Out - International Duty)
Oleksandr Svatok (Out - International Duty)
Leo Väisänen (Out - International Duty)
Jimmy Farkarlun (Out - International Duty)
SDFC:
Hirving Lozano (Out - Lower Body)
Andrés Reyes (Out - Lower Body)
Marcus Ingvartsen (Out - Thigh)
Paddy McNair (Out - International Duty)
Anibal Godoy (Out - International Duty)
San Diego FC Players to Watch
Anders Dreyer - The Danish winger is doing it all for San Diego to start the season, especially with his DP counterpart in Lozano sidelined. Dreyer leads SDFC in goal contributions, expected goals and assists, chances created, progressive passes received and crosses (he’s on sets and corners). Don’t be shocked to see the Austin defense double team Dreyer when appropriate.
Luca de la Torre - One of the eleven players we highlighted this week when praising how good Owen Wolff has been to begin the season, de la Torre will be relied upon heavily for San Diego on Sunday. He’ll likely have to pick up some slack defensively with Godoy absent.
CJ Dos Santos - The 24-year-old keeper gets his chance at holding down a starting gig at the first division level with San Diego after a youth career spent mostly with Phildelphia Union and Benfica. He landed with Inter Miami in 2022 where he started just two games for their first team as the backup to Drake Callender. He’s been great through the first month and is currently fifth in MLS in post-shot XG +/- per 90 minutes (a metric that attempts to measure shot stopping ability) at +0.51.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Take The Lid Off - Look, I know we can have some lofty and overly optimistic expectations in The North End at times. But we’re overdue for this team to put multiple goals into the back of the net. It’s been extremely rare that Austin FC has under performed their expected goals in nearly any sample over the past few years, but here we sit a month into the season with just two goals scored on 4.2 xG. Put one past Dos Santos early and pull San Diego out of their shape. Once the opponent has to prioritize scoring an equalizer, I see ATX (finally) getting two or more goals on the scoreboard. Get to halftime with another goose-egg though and we’ll all be having the same frustrated conversation up on the concourse at the break. Put in the work early and start the party.
Handle The Heat - Okay so maybe it’s not going to be HOT hot. But with the forecast calling for temperatures in the mid-80s during this match, it’s a departure from the chilly weather we had in each of the first two home games this season. That could take a toll on the players, especially if the sun is beating down with the unorthodox 3:00pm start time. Rodolfo Borrell has stated that he’s targeted both players and coaches for this roster that are used to hotter climates, so I’d be disappointed if we see Austin wilt at all at the first sign of warmer temps this season.
Predictions
ZG - 2-0 Austin FC
E - 1-0 Austin FC
