Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff is hoping the answer to his workforce’s lack of firepower could be discovered after they host New York Metropolis FC in MLS.
The Verde and Black sit tenth within the Western Convention with a spot within the playoffs inside touching distance.
Nonetheless, a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Sporting Kansas Metropolis stopped them from leapfrogging the Seattle Sounders into ninth.
Whereas Wolff is assured being again at residence will present a lift to the workforce, he admitted there are nonetheless worries over the dearth of targets.
“I don’t know [why the team are struggling to score],” he stated. “After we’re at residence, we appear to generate much more possibilities and extra targets, and there’s proof of that in our video games.
“We glance lots higher at residence, and I’m not pleased with the performances on the street. We’ve received to do higher.
“We have to win. Our goal from the get-go was to be a playoff workforce. However we didn’t get too carried away after we have been doing nicely, and we’re not going to get too feathered after we’re not.”
In the meantime, NYCFC sit fourth within the Jap Convention after a run of seven wins from 10 matches.
After a cushty 2-0 victory over Montreal, head coach Nick Cushing reiterated the workforce’s want to keep up their consistency in the event that they need to keep within the combine on the prime.
“You may see after we’re good, really feel after we’re good as a result of it’s entertaining, it’s good to observe, there’s objective possibilities,” Cushing stated.
“The fellows know what they should do, however it’s about drilling it and being constant. In Austin, we now have an enormous alternative to play the efficiency we all know provides us the perfect alternative to win.”
Merely unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/kPUpiFKkEe
— New York Metropolis FC (@newyorkcityfc) July 4, 2024
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Austin – Jader Obrian
Austin struggled in entrance of objective of their defeat to Kansas Metropolis final weekend, having simply two pictures, each of which got here from Obrian.
Whereas neither of them was on the right track, he was considered one of simply two gamers to have a contact within the opposition field, managing three, with each leading to pictures.
NYCFC – Hannes Wolf
Wolf has created essentially the most targets for NYCFC this season, establishing 5 in addition to scoring 4 himself.
He assisted each targets of their win over Montreal in midweek, teeing up Alonso Martinez for these strikes.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Austin and NYCFC are assembly for the very first time in MLS regular-season play.
After back-to-back wins in Could, Austin have since received simply one of many following seven matches (1-0 v Minnesota United). They’ve solely performed at residence twice in that run, choosing up one level out of a attainable six.
NYCFC’s back-to-back wins have each come on residence soil, whereas they misplaced their final two street video games with out scoring a single objective.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Austin – 37.6%
Draw – 26.4%
NYCFC – 36%
