WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: SPORTING KC
Welcome back to What You Need To Know, a preview for Austin FC fans to check in on their next opponent.
Opponent: Sporting Kansas City
Kick Off time: 7:30ish PM
Location: Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas
History vs. Austin FC:
Austin is 1-1-2 in Kansas City including a 4-1 loss last season that was the season's nadir. This season Austin beat them 3-2 earlier this season.
Recent Matches:
Sporting KC was defeated 4-0 in Columbus last weekend and have lost 10 of their last 11 MLS matches dating back to April 20. Their only win came at home to a 10-man Seattle side on June 8 and Stephen Frei gave up an uncharacteristically soft winner.
Players to Watch:
Johnny Russell
The Sporting Kansas City captain and Scotsman is still one of their key attackers even at age 34. He’s scored three goals on the season as his age has not diminished his tremendous left foot. He scored the opener when the two sides played in Austin earlier this season.
Memo Rodriguez
The former Austin FC midfielder went to Kansas City and won a starting midfield spot. He currently leads the team in assists with four and provides more defensive prowess than expected, or that we saw during his time in Austin.
Jake Davis
The American right-back has been a regular starter since the beginning of 2023 and provides attacking width while linking up with the aforementioned Johnny Russell. He’s been in and out of the lineup recently and KC was forced to use Central Texas native Khiry Shelton at RB, which is part of why their defense has looked poor during those matchups. With Davis back at 100% he’ll provide a much-needed boost.
Keys to the Match:
SKC Defending
The team has given up 44 goals in 20 matches so far this season, second most in the league, and only seven fewer than they allowed all of 2023. Most of this is a function of their defense not having fullbacks available who provided pace and athleticism. A general theme with Kansas City is they’ve held onto a successful core for too long without adding youth so their side is generally older and slower. Going into this match their attack is weakened (Daniel Salloi is listed as out and Alan Pulido is questionable), they’re going to need to try and keep Austin from scoring to get a much-needed result at home.
Austin’s Midfield
With limited depth, Austin FC has had to dip into their FC II team in the form of Alonso Ramirez. While the Mexican midfielder has impressed, he has also hit the limit of appearances he can make without a first-team contract. Johan Valencia is back this weekend after serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation and is likely to start along with Alex Ring.
The longer issue for Austin FC is that Venezuela's success in Copa America (2-0 in group play and already into the quarterfinals) means that Dani Pereira will be out longer than anticipated and will still have to serve a suspension when his NT duty is over. With no reinforcements available, can Valencia, Ring, and Owen Wolff be enough until Dani’s return?
Challenging keepers
Austin FC’s winner last weekend was thanks to forcing the opposing keeper to make a play. This is something Austin has not prioritized this season, being last in shots attempted and shots on target. Sporting KC starts 38-year-old Tim Melia who only has 57 saves on 95 shots against (62.1%) the fourth worst mark of qualifying goalkeepers and the second most goals per game. I have to politely ask: Why not just thunder it at the keeper?
With the introduction of Jadier Obrian and Diego Rubio Austin has had more direct attacks than in the past, but still doesn’t do enough to put pressure on defenses and force errors.
WRITTEN BY: SCOTT SPECHT
