Opposition Research: Austin FC with Verde All Day

Round two of the FC Dallas-Austin FC Copa Tejas series for 2025 is upon us. Tomorrow night, the two clubs will square off at Toyota Stadium.

Today, Phil West of Verde All Day steps up to help give us a bit more detail about this version of Austin FC ahead of tomorrow's Copa Tejas battle.

Injury report

Besard Šabović was out last week with a knee injury that could keep him out this week, and though Ilie Sánchez did get in a sub in that most recent match, he's been battling back trouble recently and I could see him maybe getting held out of this one, considering that the U.S. Open Cup semifinal is in the Twin Cities on Wednesday.

Recent Form

It's been pretty good! They're 6W 2L 3D in their last 11 dating back to June 7, and if they win on Saturday, they'll have their first three-match win streak since 2022. They also have the chance to lock up their second-best season ever based on point total with that win. (They have an outside shot of surpassing their 2022 total, but they have to get at least five wins and a draw in their last six matches to do it.)

Projected Starting Lineup/Formation

Stuver; Desler, Hines-Ike, Svatok, Biro; Dubersarsky, Pereira, Wolff; Bukari, Uzuni, Gallagher (going right to left on the lines)

Key players to watch out for

Myrto Uzuni is back from international break and has scored four goals in his last six matches, while Owen Wolff has scored five in his last seven, and Osman Bukari has two goals and three assists in his last six matches.

What is new with Austin since we last squared off?

I mean, it's been a whole month. Aside from both of our teams losing Copa Tejas to Houston, and Austin weathering an international break that took six first-team players (though, really, four) out of the lineup that beat Sporting Kansas City, they've been able to maintain a nearly two points per match clip for three months. Since that Dallas game, they followed up a bad road loss to Montreal with two straight wins.