Austin FC will hope to parlay an extended break, a full roster and home-pitch advantage into a win when they host rival FC Dallas on Wednesday in the latest rendition of the Copa Tejas series.
Austin (5-8-4, 19 points) returns from a 10-day break and is largely at full strength for the first time all season. The Verde have dropped consecutive games, most recently a 4-1 setback at Kansas City on June 10. Austin fell behind 3-0 by the 57th minute and got on the board with Sebastian Driussi’s goal in the 61st, but would get no closer.
Wednesday’s match is the first of two Copa Tejas home games for Austin this week with Houston visiting on Saturday. A pair of victories would see Austin take over the top spot in the Copa Tejas standings and ensure that Austin FC would control their own destiny in their final game of this year’s series, an Aug. 26 road game against Dallas.
The match will start an hour later than originally planned because of a forecast of extreme heat (in excess of 105 degrees) in the central Texas area.
“Typically I’d say that we absolutely have to use it to our advantage and we want to use the ball (Wednesday),” Austin coach Josh Wolff said. “We want to make the opponent suffer when we have it and to make them chase when they don’t want to. That’s part of what makes us successful.”
FC Dallas (7-6-5, 26 points) lost only once in league play between April 1 and May 30 but since have garnered just one win in their past four MLS contests, with three losses.
“We’re unlucky with some of the injuries that we had, and to just stop a little bit, reset and get some new energy and go again,” FC Dallas coach Nico Estevez said. “This next game against Austin is going to help us keep growing and progressing.”
Dallas has lost just once to Austin in the regular season while producing four wins and two draws in the all-time series.
The Toros beat Austin 1-0 earlier this season on the road thanks to a goal by Jesus Ferreira. Ferreira, Dallas’ leading scorer on the season with 10 goals, will not be available on Wednesday after being called up to the U.S. men’s national team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
–Field Level Media
