Austin FC<\/strong><\/a> can pad their Western Conference playoff lead on Sunday when they pay a visit to Children\u2019s Mercy Park for a date with Sporting Kansas City<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Last weekend, KC ended a four-match MLS<\/a> losing run by defeating the Colorado Rapids 4-2, while Austin came away with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was another poor opening half for Sporting last weekend, but to their credit, they fought back with three unanswered goals in the final 45 minutes to snap a six-match winless run in league play.<\/p>\n Starting slow and finishing strong has been a big storyline of theirs in 2025, claiming 14 points from losing positions, the fifth-most domestically this year.<\/p>\n Nearly half of their regular-season goals scored this season (21\/34) have come beyond the hour mark, with this team ranked third in that category.<\/p>\n Kerry Zavagnin\u2019s men are eight points below the playoff line with only six matches remaining and on Sunday they can win consecutive home games for the first time in 2025.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a victory this weekend would give them eight on the season, equalling their total from 2024, while five more points would surpass what they achieved a year ago (31).<\/p>\n They have points in four of their five all-time home meetings versus the Verde and Black, winning those last two affairs by a combined margin of 6-1.<\/p>\n Austin remain on course for a return to the playoffs, currently six points above that line in the West and two points ahead of the Rapids for an automatic place in round one.<\/p>\n Under Nico Estevez<\/strong><\/a>, they have adapted into a defence-first squad, with a goals-against-average of only 1.22, the seventh lowest in the competition.<\/p>\n As you might imagine, for a sound defensive unit, this team are nearly unbeatable when netting first, winning 10 times to go along with two draws in those 12 instances domestically.<\/p>\n On the other hand, they struggle mightily when behind, without a single regular-season victory after conceding the opener or trailing at the interval.<\/p>\n If they can win their remaining seven contests, the Verde and Black would set a new club record for wins in a single regular season, surpassing the mark of 16 set in 2022, the only previous time they made the playoffs.<\/p>\n Set pieces have been a strong component of their success in 2025, with seven of their 29 goals coming from dead-ball situations, which has played a big part in them winning three of their previous five MLS away contests.<\/p>\n Sporting Kansas City Major League Soccer form:<\/p>\n Austin FC Major League Soccer form:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A quad strain kept Manu Garcia<\/strong><\/a> out of the Kansas City lineup versus Colorado, and the midfielder is unlikely to be available for them this weekend.<\/p>\n Because of the international window Zorhan Bassong<\/strong><\/a> will miss this match having earned a call-up for Canada, while Ian James<\/strong><\/a> will represent the US Under-17 team.<\/p>\n Dejan Joveljic<\/strong><\/a> netted a brace the last time out, eclipsing 100 goals in his professional club career, Daniel Salloi<\/strong><\/a> also scored, giving him 11 goal contributions on the year, with Mason Toye<\/strong><\/a> also netting in the victory.<\/p>\n Against the Quakes, Austin were without Brandon Vazquez<\/strong><\/a> because of a knee injury and Ilie Sanchez<\/strong><\/a> was sidelined as he continues to recover from a back problem.<\/p>\n They will have numerous players out for the international window including Myrto Uzuni<\/strong><\/a> (Albania), Oleksandr Svatok<\/strong><\/a> (Ukraine), Daniel Pereira<\/strong><\/a> (Venezuela) and Julio Cascante<\/strong><\/a> (Costa Rica).<\/p>\n Osman Bukari<\/strong><\/a> had the opener for them last Saturday, with Uzuni scoring the winner over 20 minutes later and Bruno Wilson<\/strong><\/a> aiding them with an own goal late in the second half.<\/p>\n Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:<\/strong><\/p>\n Pulskamp; Shelton, Miller, Voloder, Leibold; Davis, Radoja; Thommy, Munoz, Salloi; Joveljic<\/p>\n Austin FC possible starting lineup:<\/strong><\/p>\n Stuver; Desler, Dordevic, Hines-Ike, Biro; Dubersarsky, Sabovic, Gallagher; Bukari, Obrian, Wolff<\/p>\n Austin have struggled against lower-ranked sides of late, dropping points in their last three matches versus teams currently on the outside of the playoff picture.<\/p>\n Meanwhile Sporting can be a mixed bag, but Joveljic has shown he can carry this team at times, and we believe he will do exactly that on Sunday.<\/p>\n For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ID:580868:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect10372:<\/span><\/p>\n No Data Analysis info<\/span><\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nSoccer We say: Sporting Kansas City 2-0 Austin FC<\/h2>\n
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