Aiming to claim their third win in four MLS matches, Los Angeles FC will welcome Austin FC to the BMO Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts enter this contest off the back of two straight losses in all competitions, while the visitors will be searching for a win after back-to-back defeats in the league.
Match preview
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Los Angeles FC started their 2025 campaign with a Champions Cup fixture against Colorado Rapids, which ended in a 2-1 defeat.
However, Steve Cherundolo's men bounced back from that loss to claim four consecutive victories in the league and the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Their bid for a third straight win in the league suffered a setback though, after a 5-2 thumping against Seattle Sounders in Washington, which was followed by a 2-1 loss to Columbus Crew in the Champions Cup - albeit managing to advance via away goals after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate.
With two wins from three league exertions, the Falcons have enjoyed a better start this term, in comparison to 2024 when they managed only a solitary win from their opening four fixtures.
After being dumped out at Conference semi-finals stage of the MLS Cup last season, the Black and Gold will aim to claim the coveted title for the first time since their 2022 triumph.
Ahead of the fixture, the Falcons will be brimming with confidence, having been unbeaten against the visitors in six matches, coupled with the fact that they have won six of their last seven league encounters at the BMO Stadium.
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Austin FC have their work cut out against Los Angeles FC, having lost two of their opening three fixtures in the new MLS season.
Although they claimed all three points in their first match of the campaign courtesy of a narrow 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City, the visitors have since suffered back-to-back losses to Portland Timbers (1-0) and Colorado Rapids (1-0).
Their record of a win and two defeats in the new season leaves El Tree 10th in the standings with three points in the Western Conference.
Last term, Davy Arnaud led the Texas-based franchise to 10th in the Western Conference, five points adrift of Portland Timbers, who claimed the final playoff ticket.
In the current season, Nico Estevez will be aiming to claim a playoff spot, but they have to sort out their goalscoring issue which plagued them in the 2024 season.
In the previous season, the Verde and Black scored the fewest number of goals in the West (39), and they have found the back of the net only once across three fixtures this time around.
Team News
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There is uncertainty over the availability of Thiago Holm, who is suffering from a calf injury, which has prevented him from featuring for the hosts since he joined from Celtic.
Lorenzo Dellavalle is a long-term injury concern for the home side, and he is not expected to be considered for a place in the squad for Saturday's fixture.
Although Dennis Bouanga fired blanks in their last outing, the Gabonese is favoured to lead the line on Saturday.
As for Austin FC, Julio Cascante suffered a muscle injury against Portland Timbers, and he missed the subsequent fixture against Rapids, so he is unlikely to feature in this contest.
In the absence of the Costa Rican, Oleksandr Svatok is in line to be drafted into the back four with Guilherme Biro, Mikkel Desler and Brendan Hines-Ike.
Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:
Hasal; Segura, Tafari, Long; Palencia, Saldana, Delgado, Smoliakov; Ordaz, Yeboah; Bouanga
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Desler, Svatok, Hines-Ike, Biro; Obrian, Sanchez, Pereira, Bukari; Vazquez, Wolff
We say: Los Angeles FC 2-1 Austin FC
Although Los Angeles FC have suffered two losses in all competitions, the hosts will head into this fixture in confident mood, having posted two wins in the MLS across three fixtures.
More so, they have the individual quality that can propel them to a win against the visiting Austin FC, who are yet to find their footing this season.
Therefore, we reckon that Los Angeles FC will claim a narrow 2-1 win in this fixture.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
