Match Preview - Vancouver Whitecaps
Game Info
Kickoff: 6:39pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: BC Place - Vancouver, BC
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has an all-time record of 1W - 2D - 5L against Vancouver Whitecaps.
Austin’s lone win in this head-to-head matchup came on April 23, 2022, a 3-0 victory at Q2 Stadium that was highlighted by a Maxi Urruti brace and capped off with a Sebastián Driussi header.
It has not been smooth sailing for Austin since that victorious night three years ago, as the Verde and Black have managed just two points from the following five contests, with both draws being scoreless affairs.
To make matters worse for ATX this Saturday, Vancouver has been one of the best teams in MLS to start the 2025 season. They’re still alive in CONCACAF Champions League as of Wednesday night while also sitting atop the Western Conference table. Let’s dive in.
Vancouver Whitecaps Recent Form
Vancouver is off to a torrid start and enter this game with 16 points in the league, good enough for first place in the Western Conference and an early lead in the race for the Supporter’s Shield. On top of that, Vancouver has advanced to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where they will play the second leg of their matchup against Pumas on Wednesday night with the aggregate score level at 1-1.
Note: Vancouver has advanced to the CCC semi-finals after winning 3-3 on aggregate and advancing on away goals tiebreaker.
During their CCC run, Vancouver defeated Deportivo Saprissa in the first round by an aggregate score of 3-2, then followed that up with a ridiculously impressive advancement over Liga MX juggernaut CF Monterrey – a series in which Vancouver was able to win on away goals. Not only have they made the final eight in that competition, they’ve done so without the services of their first choice captain, Ryan Gauld.
But since this is our first meeting with the Whitecaps this season, I’ll keep up with ZG’s new tradition of digging into the franchise history of our opponent for the weekend. Brought into MLS as the 17th club on March 18, 2009, Vancouver did not start league play until the 2011 Season. Vancouver is a “phoenix club,” which means they were established to replace a current team that failed on the business side of things, but not necessarily as a team. Vancouver absorbed the Whitecaps moniker from a USSF Division 2 Professional League team that played in the city before MLS came calling.
Vancouver hasn’t had much success in league play and has just three total MLS postseason victories to their name. A 5-0 stomping of the San Jose Earthquakes back on October 25th, 2017, another 5-0 win over Portland in last season’s wild card game, and a 3-0 win over LAFC in the best of three series that saw LAFC advance on aggregate score. The Whitecaps do participate in the Canadian Championship (think US Open Cup for our neighbors to the north), which they have won a total of four times – 2015, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The ‘Caps will be looking to add to both their three-peat of the Canadian Championship and MLS playoff victories this year.
What’s changed for this Vancouver team that finished 8th in the Western Conference last year and was ousted in the first round of the playoffs by LAFC?
We’ll start at the top with the hiring of Jesper Sørensen, a Danish manager with professional playing experience throughout Europe. Sørensen replaced fan favorite Vanni Sartini and was most recently with Brøndby IF of the Superligaen in Denmark. He also has stints as the Denmark U21 National Team coach, Silkeborg IF, FC Fredericia, and Aarhus Gymnastikforening.
Under Sørensen's guidance, the Whitecaps have adopted a disciplined 4-3-3 formation, emphasizing high possession and a stout defense. As a team, they have the highest average FotMob rating of any team at 7.20 and control the ball 55.8% of the game (fifth most in MLS), and have four clean sheets to boot, tied with Austin FC for most in the league this season.
They’ve been very productive offensively and are sitting on 21 big chances created, which is good enough for 7th most in MLS. With 12 goals for and just five conceded, the ‘Caps are essentially matching their xG on offense and defense, figures of 11.7 and 6.2, respectively.
While mainstays Brian White and Ryan Gauld pace their club, Vancouver has seen solid production across the board from the majority of their roster in 2025, with ten different players scoring goals through the first seven league games! For a not-so-fun reference point, the entire Austin FC team only has five goals on the season.
Vancouver have not made the big-money splashes over the last year that we have seen littered throughout MLS, with their top two transfers costing a total of $2.6M for Edier Ocampo and winger Emmanuel Sabbi. Ocampo, a right back, joins the team from Atlético Nacional with a prior stop with Fortaleza FC. He also was a member of Colombia’s U19 and U20 teams, and is currently on their U23 roster. Ocampo is a rangy, athletic defender who possesses above-average talent on the ball.
Sabbi, a former USA youth international at the U20 and U23 levels, along with one cap for the senior national team, was brought in on a $1M transfer fee from Le Havre of Ligue 1 in France. Prior to that, Sabbi was with OB, who currently sit atop the Danish 1st Division, where he amassed 21 goals in 89 appearances.
But the most productive acquisition thus far has been Jayden Nelson. The Canadian national was with Toronto FC from 2020-2023, but was most recently playing for Ulm in Bundesliga 2 and Rosenborg in the Eliteserien in Norway. Nelson got off to an incredible start to the season against Portland with three assists and a goal in the ‘Caps dominant 4-1 win over the 10-man Timbers. Nelson is ridiculously fast. Like, really fast, and he uses that speed to play in space and strike on counter attacks. Luckily for Austin, Nelson is expected to miss this weekend’s match due to injury.
Of course, the two staples of Vancouver are USMNT forward Brian White and midfielder Ryan Gauld (aka the Scottish Messi), a duo that is one of the most formidable in the league. In some good news for our favorite team, Gauld is sidelined until early May with a knee injury. Unfortunately for Austin, that has not slowed Vancouver down one bit. Nor have the rest of the many injuries the Whitecaps are currently dealing with. They’re also expected to be without Nelson this weekend, along with defenders Sam Adekugbe and Mathias Laborda.
By the time you’re reading this Vancouver will have already played the second leg of their CCC quarterfinal against Pumas. This should lead to some rotation for Vancouver against Austin, particularly if Vancouver goes for it with a nice showing south of the border… border. Didn’t think about them crossing two until just now!
After a stretch of three games that secured Vancouver just two points, the Whitecaps dominated Colorado Rapids at home last weekend by a 2-0 scoreline at BC Place to get back to their winning ways. No matter who is in the starting XI for Vancouver on Saturday, Austin will have their hands full with this team in a venue where ATX has never emerged victorious.
Austin FC Recent Form
Enough about the Whitecaps, time to slap a goal tariff on our Canadian brothers!
This is a great early season test for an Austin side who is unbeaten over the last calendar month and sits in 4th place in the Western Conference. The question is how do we stop this Vancouver team?
After last week’s boring draw at Q2 Stadium, the consensus in the The North End was acceptance. Neither team yielded much to each other defensively and a draw felt like a fair outcome, both leaving the stadium and on the rewatch. The Verde and Black have still yet to hit their stride on the offensive side of the ball, with just fives goals scored through the first seven matches of the year. While the underlying metrics don’t paint an entirely different story, the team’s total xG on Opta’s model is at 8.3, a significant under-performace in a small sample size.
However, the team’s defense continues to churn out stellar numbers. Austin leads the league in clean sheets, goals allowed, and xG conceded. Austin has passed the eye test as well and some of the national pundits are starting to catch on, although one outlet described the style of play as “boring” and has drawn the ire of fans (plus a rebuke from head coach Nico Estévez). Key contributors Brendan Hines-Ike, Oleksandr Svatok, Guilerme Biro, and Jon Gallagher (in relief of the injured Mikkel Desler) have all raised their level of play from last year, a season in which Austin’s defense was already quite good (just five teams conceded fewer goals than ATX in 2024). On top of that, the typical timely saves by Bradley Scott Stuver have preserved clean sheets in key moments of games that Austin FC teams of seasons past may have dropped.
But this Whitecaps side has found ways to break through nearly all of the adversity they’ve faced this season. From overcoming defecits on the scoreboard, to midweek schedule congestion (they’ve played 13 games in the same timespan that Austin has played seven) and a littany of injuries, Vancouver may just be the hottest team in CONCACAF. While an opponent like LAFC may be more talented on paper, there’s little doubt when factoring in form that the Whitecaps are the biggest challenge to date for the 2025 version of Austin FC.
We discussed our thoughts on the potential starting XI on Episode 214 that was released on Wednesday afternoon. Estévez has rolled out the same unit in two consecutive games and while there are some positional battles that could result in a change or two against Vancouver, the overall consistency of the player personnel has been a welcome sight.
We’ll be through two full months of soccer in the coming days and while it hasn’t been pretty, it’s working. I’ll take wins over style points all day, every day.
Injury Report
ATX:
Mikkel Desler (Out - Hamstring)
Diego Rubio (Out - Hamstring)
Ilie Sanchez (Out - Hamstring)
Micah Burton (Out - Leg)
VAN:
Ryan Gauld (Out - Knee)
Jayden Nelson (Out - Hamstring)
Sam Adekugbe (Out - Quad)
Mathias Laborda (Out - Hamstring)
Vancouver Whitecaps Players to Watch
Brian White - The 29-year-old striker has been one of the most consistent attacking players in MLS since joining the Whitecaps ranks from NYRB in 2021. He’s recorded 59 goal contributions across his 121 appearances for the club, including scoring the opening goal in last Saturday’s victory over Colorado Rapids. White rotated against Pumas on Wednesday, playing just the second half. He should be good to go against ATX this weekend.
Pedro Vite - One of the two U22 Initiative players on this Vancouver roster, Vite has been a mainstay in the Whitecaps midfield since 2022. A member of the Ecuadorian national team, Vite doesn’t put up eye-popping counting stats (just 12 goal contributions in 5,846 minutes with the ‘Caps) but you will certainly notice him causing trouble for ATX in the midfield if you’re tuned in to the game on Saturday evening.
Sebastian Berhalter - The former Austin FC midfielder (playing 651 minutes for the Verde and Black in 2021) has found a home in Vancouver. He’s taken on a huge role for the ‘Caps in 2025 with their team captain sidelined with a knee issue. Berhalter is leading the team in progressive passes by a significant margin and has also taken over corners and set piece duties in Gauld’s stead. He also scored a fantastic backheel flick against Pumas on Wednesday night to open the scoring.
Tate Johnson - ZG is high on this kid and as I’ve learned that he existed this week, he’s certainly one to watch and has an interesting story. Johnson began his professional career at age 15 in USL League 2. He then made seven appearances at the USL Championship level with Tampa Bay Rowdies before joining Crown Legacy FC (Charlotte’s MLS Next Pro affiliate) in 2023. He was then Riley Thomas’ teammate at UNC last year before being drafted 15th overall by the ‘Caps in December’s MLS SuperDraft. He’s been filling in at left back with Adekugbe sidelined and already has a goal and assist to his name in five appearances.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Break The Bore - Even if positives can be taken away from a game like last Saturday night at the Q, scoreless soccer is boring from an entertainment standpoint. To bring home a result from BC Place, it sure feels like Austin FC will have to do something they’ve managed just once this season, score multiple times. The Whitecaps have scored at least one goal in 12 of their 13 games they’ve played across all competitions this season, with the lone outlier being a 0-0 draw of their own against Toronto FC. No better time to take the lid off of the opposing goal than against the Western Conference leaders.
Stay Solid - No matter how things go on the offensive end, it’s been a ton of fun to see our favorite team at or near the top in nearly every defensive metric through the first seven weeks of the MLS season. We know that coach Estévez has the guys prioritizing their defensive solidity from Stuver all the way up to the DP forward duo. Vancouver is a massive threat to upend the elite numbers that the team and fans alike are standing proudly upon this week. In the midst of wishful thinking when It comes to the Verde and Black scoring more goals with their expensive front line, it’s just as important to stay solid on the foundation of what has got ATX to this favorable early season position and that’s a great defense.
Predictions
ZG - 1-1 Draw
E - 2-1 Austin FC
