Preview | Austin FC vs. LAFC – 2026 MLS Season

🏟 | Q2 Stadium – Austin, Texas

LAFC carries its membership-document run of 4 straight wins to start the season into Q2 Stadium in Austin, TX, on Saturday evening for a main-time Western Conference conflict on Apple TV and FOX.

The Black & Gold has a document of 7W-0L-1D in all competitions— 4W-0L-0D in MLS and 3W-0L-1D in Concacaf Champions Cup – and is the one membership in MLS to open this season with 4 consecutive shutout wins. Up subsequent is a gritty Austin FC facet taking part in at its raucous residence stadium.

Austin at the moment sits in eleventh place within the West after 4 weeks, with a document of 1W-2L-1D.

“We had a video session this morning and it was about the things we could do better as a team,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos stated Friday. “Even if we are on a positive run, we still look at a lot of things that we have to be better at as a team. That was the meeting today in relation to Austin.”

WATCH: Match Trailer | Austin FC vs. LAFC (0:51)

LAFC traveled to Texas immediately after sealing its emotional, 3-2 combination-targets win over Alajuelense in Concacaf Champions Cup on Tuesday evening, which superior the membership into the CCC Quarterfinals. LAFC has bunkered within the Texas capital for the final three days to recuperate bodily, watch movie, and do a bit of coaching.

“The dads and husbands in the locker room probably miss their wives and kids when it’s a little bit more extended,” Dos Santos said, “but they like to be around each other. They do a lot of things together and it’s a really good group, a good locker room. That’s what I’ve been seeing these past few days.”

The Black & Gold continues to be with out certainly one of its early-season midfield stars, Stephen Eustáquio, who suffered a decrease physique harm in opposition to Dallas on March 7 and has been taking issues slowly. “We’re going to try to do this rehab the best we can and make sure that we put every tool to have Stephen with us as soon as possible but right now before the break we have to focus on the run we’re having. Can we continue? Can we win five in a row and keep pushing? That’s our objective as a group.”

Dos Santos added that centerback and 2025 captain Aaron Long, and not too long ago acquired winger Jacob Shaffelburg, are near returning to crew coaching. Long suffered a season-ending Achilles harm final July.

Through 4 MLS matches Austin has scored 5 targets and conceded seven. Only three groups within the Western Conference have scored fewer targets than the Verde so far.

Austin’s whole xG (anticipated targets) to date this season stands at 4.1, or roughly one anticipated objective per recreation, which ranks twenty sixth in MLS. The Verde have misplaced the xG battle in three of their 4 matches this yr, together with their final two, each highway losses by which in addition they held much less possession than their opponent. Q2 Stadium, nonetheless, is usually a highly effective teammate, with inexperienced-clad locals piling in and making their presence felt.

Austin often performs in a 4-2-3-1 form, with reigning MLS All-Star Brad Stuver in objective, as he has been for nearly each recreation the 2019 growth membership has ever performed.

Stuver was superb final week in opposition to RSL, making a number of double saves to carry the 1-1 scoreline till RSL’s Stijn Spierings rifled residence a matchwinner from distance within the 88th minute.

This previous offseason Austin acquired former MLS All-Star and Uruguay worldwide Facundo Torres, who has but to attain however leads the membership with two assists and is tied for third in MLS in key passes (12). (Key passes instantly create a objective scoring alternative for a teammate.)

“There are similarities to the team of last year,” Dos Santos stated of the facet that LAFC defeated within the MLS Cup Playoffs in November 2025. “And there are little tweaks because of the addition of players like Facundo Torres and [former Vancouver winger] Jayden Nelson who brings a little bit of a different dynamic offensively. “We’re aware of them, we’re aware of their strengths, and we have to be very focused.”

On Nov. 2, 2025, LAFC defeated Austin 4-1 at Q2 Stadium to win their Round One Best-of-3 sequence and advance to the Western Conference Semifinals. Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga assisted each other within the twenty first and twenty fifth minutes to present LAFC an early 2-0 benefit, then Bouanga added one other within the forty fourth to successfully put the sport away. They recorded his first MLS postseason objective that evening, in addition to his first MLS postseason help.

Of the 106 targets Bouanga has scored for LAFC in all competitions, he has scored eight (8) in opposition to Austin, which trails solely the Galaxy (10), San Jose (10), and Vancouver (9) amongst groups he has scored in opposition to most frequently.

Goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris continues to prepared the ground. The French World Cup champ has stopped each one of many 15 pictures he has confronted to date this season in MLS play, however his vocal management transcends his shot-stopping. Lloris places his males in the correct place.

Lloris, together with defenders Eddie Segura and Nkosi Tafari, are the one three LAFC gamers to play all 360 minutes in MLS this season. Third centerback Ryan Porteous has solely missed a single minute of motion. These 4 have held down the fort whereas the membership’s entrance seven have gotten to know Dos Santos’ attacking techniques.

Facundo Torres will get unfastened. A worthwhile member of Uruguay’s nationwide crew, Torres can drift by way of video games after which all of a sudden make the scoreboard change when nobody’s trying. He did it final week in Salt Lake, curling an ideal free kick from 40 yards out and inserting it on the top of defender Jon Bell, who completed for the sport’s opening objective.

LAFC can be smart to regulate Austin’s quantity 11.