Match Preview - Sporting Kansas City
Game Info
Kickoff: 7:40pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Q2 Stadium - Austin, TX
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a record of 4W–2L–1D all time against Sporting KC. They have won all three matches against SKC at Q2 Stadium.
The home teams won both matches in 2023, with SKC rolling Austin 4-1 at Children’s Mercy Park and ATX tagging them back 2-1 at Q2 a month later.
Sporting KC Recent Form
Sporting KC was one of the major storylines of the 2023 season. They were shorthanded to begin the year due to a rash of injuries up and down their roster and went winless in their first 10 matches. Then, SKC turned their form around completely in the remaining two-thirds of the year, averaging around 1.7 points per game across the final 24 matches, a pace of nearly 60 points over a full season. They squeezed into the playoffs by way of the wild card game by way of a penalty shootout over San Jose, then upset the #1 overall seed in the Western Conference and their bitter rivals, St. Louis City SC, in the first round. Houston finally stopped their unlikely postseason run in the conference semifinals, serving SKC a 1-0 defeat.
That significant sample size of success to close 2023 had pundits and fans alike pinning high hopes on Sporting. Listeners of The North End Podcast will know that we don’t put a ton of stock into the predictions of the MLS soccer dot com “experts”, but for what it’s worth, 11 of the 17 people included in the league’s preseason predictions had SKC as a top four team in the West. We weren’t quite as high on them as that field, but this is still an underwhelming start no matter how you slice it.
Sporting sit in 13th place in the Western Conference, with just 11 points from their 12 matches played. They haven’t won a league match since March 30th against Toronto FC.
Austin’s Recent Form
Surprisingly, it’s a breath of fresh air to see Sporting KC on the schedule after Austin has played three teams twice (St. Louis City, Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas) in their first 13 matches, at least when it comes to penning these preview articles.
Austin got back on track Wednesday with another victory over Houston Dynamo, their fifth win in the last eight matches. The 16 points they’ve recorded in that stretch matches the second best eight-game sample size in club history, just behind the 17 points ATX grabbed in that type of stretch twice during the 2022 season. But with their first double game week of the season coming to a close, we should expect to see at least moderate rotation in the ATX starting XI.
Who swaps out? I think it’s easier for me to suggest who I think will definitely be in the lineup. Feels like the group of Brad Stuver, Jon Gallagher, Alex Ring, Jáder Obrian and Sebastián Driussi will be out there to start, I’m not surprised if any other mainstays in the group are changed out for a bit of rest after two hard fought and highly emotional rivalry matches.
Austin’s schedule remains busy throughout the rest of the month, with another double game week ahead leading into June. Banking at least a point at home on Saturday would be a big help to the overall goal of clinching a playoff spot in the fall considering the Verde and Black will be on the road at San Jose (where they’ve never brought home a point) and Real Salt Lake (who are tops in the Western Conference as of this writing) over the next two Saturday’s with a home match against Portland sandwiched in between.
Injury Report
ATX – Ethan Finlay (Questionable – Hamstring), Guilherme Biro (Questionable – Hamstring)
SKC – Dany Rosero (Questionable – Quad), Remi Walter (Questionable – Knee), Logan Ndenbe (OUT – Knee), Kayden Pierre (OUT – Ankle)
Sporting KC Players To Watch
William Agada – The 24-year-old Nigerian forward will be one of the primary threats to the Austin back line this Saturday. After arriving in Kansas City prior to the 2022 season, Agada has struggled with injuries, appearing in just 37 league matches with the club. But man is he dangerous when he’s out there. Click here to view his Opta scouting report (which is a comparison of Agada to his positional peers in Men’s “Next 14” leagues over the last 365 days) here and let you feast your eyes on what’s coming at us on Saturday.
Erik Thommy – The German winger should be back in action this weekend after missing last Saturday’s match against Houston due to the birth of his child. Thommy had plenty of Bundesliga experience under his belt (9 goals and 14 assists in 96 appearances) before coming stateside in 2022. He’s dangerous in open play and an above average option on set pieces and corner kicks, which is a big reason why he led SKC in assists last year with 13 in all competitions.
Dany Rosero – The athletic 6’2” center back from Colombia arrived in Kansas City in the early weeks of the 2023 season. Prior to coming to MLS, Rosero racked up more than 300 appearances in Argentina and Colombia, scoring 20 goals in the process. He added three goals for SKC last season and started all 26 of his appearances during the regular season after making his debut at the beginning of April. His vertical ability makes him a noticeable presence on both ends of the field. Rosero is questionable for this match with a quad injury, but if he’s healthy enough to go Austin will have their hands full trying to control the skies with him in the vicinity.
Austin’s Keys To The Game
Quick Turnaround – First double game week of the season has Austin kicking off less than 72 hours after the conclusion of their midweek win over Houston. The regulars will have to gut it out in a battle against their tired legs and they’ll have to get some positive contributions from any rotated players getting a spot start to come out with a victory.
Shuffle the Deck – This will be the first time all year where we do expect some rotation in the squad. Can the coaching staff continue to pull the right strings to bring the most out of this roster from a results standpoint? Will the depth pieces inserted for larger roles contribute in a positive manner? I’m interested to see how this team deals with the schedule congestion hurdle to nab another result at home.
Build the Fortress – Speaking of home, Austin FC has been damn good at Q2 Stadium since the opening night letdown against Minnesota. In the six matches since, ATX has recorded 14 points. Being a strong home team is paramount to success in MLS, and Austin is on the verge of convincing me that we should be confident in them at home, no matter the opponent.
The North End’s Predictions
ZG – 2-2 Draw
E – 1-0 Austin FC
