Seeking to start as they mean to go on, Austin FC and Sporting Kansas City will lock horns in their 2025 MLS curtain-raiser at the Q2 Stadium on Sunday.
Off the back of relatively underwhelming campaigns last time out, both teams will head into the new season perhaps with a point to prove, and all three points on the opening weekend would be an ideal first impression.
Match preview
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Two years on since taking the league by surprise by finishing second in the Western Conference in only their sophomore MLS season, Austin FC have now failed to make the playoffs in consecutive years following a 10th-place finish last time out.
Coached by Josh Wolff at the time, Austin FC suffered from a lot of inconsistent performances over the course of the season and would end up five points shy of Portland Timbers in the race for the final postseason berth.
Having been at the helm of affairs since the club's inception in 2020, Austin's decision to fire Wolff was far from an easy one, but the management felt a change was needed and have since turned to Nico Estevez.
Estevez led his side to a 1-0 friendly defeat to New England in his first outing but has since won four and drawn two of the subsequent six pre-season matches ahead of his fourth straight MLS campaign as a head coach, having previously managed FC Dallas.
Winning five of the previous nine meetings between the teams, Sunday's hosts have just about had the upper hand over their visitors, especially in front of their fans, where they have won four matches on the bounce.
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Managing just two victories from their opening 16 league matches, the warning signs were there early on for Sporting Kansas City, who just could not spark a much-needed renaissance as the season progressed.
Despite finishing bottom but one in the Western Conference with fewer points (31) than matches played (34), Sporting Kansas opted against ending their 16-year affiliation with head coach Peter Vermes, the current longest-serving manager in the division.
Since ending last season with five consecutive losses across all competitions, including a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles Galaxy in the grand finale of the US Open Cup, the Wizards have been beaten in five of their six matches, five of which were, however, pre-season friendlies.
The most recent of those defeats came against Inter Miami in the CONCACAF Champions Cup earlier today when Lionel Messi's strike 10 minutes into the second period proved to be the deciding moment at Children's Mercy Park.
Sunday's visitors will attempt to overturn their one-goal deficit from the aforementioned clash in next week's return leg, but in the meantime, the focus is on this weekend's league opener on the road, where they have not won since July.
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Team News
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Austin FC's record signing Myrto Uzuni is yet to make his official debut for the club since joining from La Liga 2 outfit Granada in a €12 million deal during the January transfer window.
Mikkel Desler lasted the full 90 minutes in the hosts' most recent friendly outing, signalling his readiness to return to competitive action after a spell on the sidelines with a leg injury.
New arrivals Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia were both handed their debuts against Inter Miami, but Shapi Suleymanov will have to wait a little longer after he was named as an unused substitute last time out.
Daniel Rosero made his comeback from an ankle problem in the aforementioned game and is in line for a first league outing since September, while Mason Toye continues to edge closer to a return.
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Desler, Hines-Ike, Cascante, Guilherme; Dubersarsky, Wolff, Pereira; Gallagher, Bukari, Vazquez
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Pulskamp; Leibold, Voloder, Rosero, Davis; Thommy, Radoja, Bartlett, Rodriguez; Salloi, Joveljic
We say: Austin FC 3-1 Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City are showing no signs of putting last season's woes behind them just yet, and Austin will fancy their chances of coming away with maximum points.
We are tipping the hosts to run out fairly comfortable winners at the sound of the final whistle in Texas.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
