Match Preview - Louisville City FC (US Open Cup Round of 32)
Game Info
Kickoff: 6:00pm CT
Watch: Paramount +
Location: Lynn Family Stadium - Louisville, KY
All-Time H2H Record
This is the first time that Austin FC has faced Louisville City FC in a competitive match.
However, these two clubs have squared off in each of the six preseasons in exhibition matches, making for an extensive walk through memory lane for the sickos. Back in the inaugural season, Austin FC and Louisville City FC played an exhibition at St. Edward’s University, a 2-0 win for ATX behind a brace from Danny Hoesen.
The next preseason, the clubs played their first match at St. David’s Performance Center, which was a 1-0 win for Austin FC behind what I believe (from digging through old ATX fan tweets, TNEP would record its first episode seven months later) was a Felipe Martins goal. That was also the same day we learned Felipe was on trial with the team.
In 2023, this time attended by myself and my esteemed co-host, Austin put it on the visitors at St. David’s Performance Center in a 4-1 victory. Goals came from new signing Gyasi Zardes, Sebastián Driussi, Diego Fagundez and Alex Ring.
In 2024, the match was played at Q2 Stadium (as Rodolfo Borrell’s first preseason as Sporting Director appeared to be what spelled the end of Verde Hill) and ended in a 3-3 draw after 120 minutes. Goals were scored by Jáder Obrian, Valentin Noel and Gyasi Zardes. This was the first match that Damian Las saw time with Louisville City FC, as his first of two loan spells was announced the day prior, along with a contract extension.
Last year, the Verde and Black took care of business at Q2 by a 3-1 scoreline, with goals coming from Brendan Hines-Ike, Diego Rubio and Dani Pereira. Back in January of this year, Austin FC narrowly defeated Louisville City 1-0 behind a goal from Jorge Alastuey and a clean sheet from Damian Las.
Louisville City FC Recent Form
While this matchup is going to be referred to as “The Damian Derby” as long as Las remains a member of Austin FC, Louisville City FC has an incredibly successful decade-plus at the USL level with or without the “best keeper in the world” since beginning play in 2015. In their 11 seasons, Louisville has finished in the top three of the “Player’s Shield” (best regular season record) standings eight times, winning the shield in each of the last two seasons. They also won back-to-back USL Championship Finals in the 2017 and 2018 seasons and have topped the Eastern Conference five times.
We’ve gotten a taste of this success from afar with our weekly “Best Keeper in the World” segment on the show during each of Las’s two seasons on loan in Louisville. Over that period, we frequently got in-depth breakdowns on Louisville matches from our resident Louisville City FC fan, Trevor Allison. If you already caught up on Sunday’s Episode 298, then you’ve heard some of this already, but we wanted to bring his thoughts to the preview article as well because this is the best Louisville City FC breakdown that Austin fans will find this week. So I’ll turn it over to Turbo Trevor for the remainder of this section and then again in the “players to watch” later in the article!
Louisville is currently under interim coach Simon Bird after Danny Cruz left to be an assistant at Minnesota United a few weeks back. Bird was an assistant every season under Cruz and was the academy director before that, so they haven’t really changed how they play after the coaching switch.
They run a 3-4-3 high pressing system where they control most matches due to field tilt and that aggressive press, but usually don’t end up with more possession, even when getting more shots. The wingbacks are often very high up the field, with a 3-2-5 shape in attack, and they press so much that it can almost look like the same 3-2-5 in defense at times as well. You could also think of it as a 3-plus-box midfield, plus striker up the middle, with wingbacks that are end to end on their side, if that makes sense.
Their wingbacks will look to pump in crosses and like to get to the end line when possible. They also end up scoring a decent amount from crashing the back side and causing overloads late in a play. The two midfielders mostly stay home to take space and progress the ball, but are good at dropping back to support the wing spaces defensively if the first line is broken. The nominal wingers in the “front three” are basically half-space guys who like to cut in and shoot (and they will shoot) and create for each other and the wing backs who make runs inside.
The nine is an out-and-out striker, always on the back shoulder and kind of hanging around for poaching-type goals. The striker isn’t always a focal point for goals but is expected to occupy space and the centerbacks. They like to get the ball into that Zone 14 space and just create chaotic opportunities against scrambling defenses. It’s a little more controlled than the classic Klopp heavy metal football, but there are always runners coming forward when they force a turnover high up the pitch.
They have 11 players who have scored this year, none of them have more than two goals in league play. Where do the players come from? A mix of MLS academy guys that don’t get first team minutes, with some fringe MLS players and local college kids that were overlooked by the MLS system. They have a decent academy going, but the Wynder brothers (we just saw Elijah off the bench for the Galaxy on Saturday) are the only ones to really move on to bigger and better things. 17-year-old Brandon Dayes has been starting some at centerback, so he could be next. They also just poach some of the best USL players that fit their roster holes because they can spend more than most of the league.
I would assume they try to play more or less “their style” against Austin, as that’s what they did against Minnesota United in the Open Cup last year. However, the chaos and space they create with the press in league play just wasn’t really there in that match, which was against what I would call a Loons C-team (DJ Taylor scored the only goal).
They use the system to beat teams into submission in league play, but I think the superior MLS athletes make it tougher for them to make the back line get off balance like they do in league play.
Overall, I would say to expect a decently close match and an Austin win, unless Lou City can hit a couple of golazos. This is a better team than the El Paso Locomotive side we played last year.
Austin FC Recent Form
What a difference 90 minutes can make. Saturday’s home loss against the LA Galaxy was a new low point on the young season, with the Patreon “Game Score” here in The North End ending up at a 1.74 and the vibes across the entire fanbase matching that feeling.
It was a disappointing effort from the players in a match that gave the Galaxy their first road win since October 2024 and the excuse of “every time you play in the morning the grass gets so dry and it’s very difficult to get some speed” from head coach Nico Estévez in his post match press conference did not make things better, especially when you consider that coming into the game Austin FC was undefeated (8 wins, 2 draws and no losses) in the ten previous day games held at Q2 Stadium in club history.
But, for better or worse, the attention must now shift quickly towards the Round of 32 in the U.S. Open Cup, where Austin will kick off against Louisville about 74 hours after the final whistle blew on Saturday. Of course, some of the best memories for fans of the Verde and Black from the last year and change come from this compeition, as ATX made it all the way to the final last October before falling 2-1 to Nashville SC.
Prior to the 2025 run, the Open Cup had been mostly frustration for Austin FC. Their first appearance in the competition was over in an instant at the hands of a 2-1 upset in overtime against San Antonio FC back in 2022. The following year the team got a win against New Mexico United before bowing out at home against Chicago Fire. In 2024, Austin FC II was entered into the competition instead of the first team, and even FCito was ousted in their first match of the tournament by a semi-pro side at Parmer Field.
I’m intrigued to see how Estévez aligns his team in this one. On one hand a matchup against any USL side, even one as talented historically as Louisville City FC, should be a fixture that an MLS side is comfortable enough to at least partially rotate in. But Austin is also in desperate need of a sure victory, which could be very much in doubt if they approach things too lightly.
The U.S. Open Cup also remains the “easiest” path to a non-Copa Tejas trophy for ATX. As they enter the tournament on Tuesday night, Austin FC sits just five wins away from lifting the cup that narrowly evaded them just seven months ago. In my opinion as a fan, this is a must win game for both reasons.
There is one position I am positive I would like to see rotated for this match and it’s in net. Naturally, this is not a knock on Bradley Scott Stuver, rather the desire to see Damian Las get the chance to take on his old team and get his first start for the Verde and Black. I’m sure that Estévez will make some additional changes, particularly on the back line, where guys like Mateja Djordjevic and Žan Kolmanič haven’t seen much burn this season and Mikkel Desler needs longer run-outs. Whichever ten field players get the starting nod will be talented enough, on paper, to win this match, but I will be flat out baffled if we don’t see #12 between the sticks.
If Austin fails to advance, the seat will be officially hot for the head coach. While that discussion is already taking place in some circles, it will be at the forefront of the Austin FC discourse ahead of three league games looming in an eight day span beginning with Toronto FC on Saturday. Noon kick for that one, watch out for the dry grass!
Injury Report
ATX:
Owen Wolff (Out - Sports Hernia)
Brandon Vazquez (Out - Knee)
LOU:
None listed
Louisville City FC Players to Watch
Taylor Davila - Midfielder who was the 2025 USL Player of the Year and a graduate of the LA Galaxy academy. He’s the guy that makes it all work for Louisville. He’s a 10/8 who is a level above the rest of the league on the ball. It’s impossible to get the ball off of him and he can hit good key passes, or the pass before the pass, with regularity. He’s also pretty good on free kicks and will shoot with accuracy when given space. Basically the Zidane of US - I think the soccer skills would translate to MLS but he would have trouble keeping up physically.
Sean Totsch - The all-time appearance leader for Lou City. A rock solid veteran centerback who plays with a tucked in shirt and takes the team’s PKs. Not scared of anyone and obviously a fan favorite.
Hugo Faroux - A French USL veteran who played a few matches for the Austin Bold in 2021. He’s been decent so far, but definitely a downgrade from Las. His last two matches have been his worst so far and he does not do well in scramble situations, but is good enough with his shot stopping and set pieces. Probably an area Austin FC can exploit.
Wingers - Jansen Wilson (University of Kentucky) & Rey Serrano (Seattle Sounders academy) - Wilson is a fast aggressive player who will take long shots any time there is space and puts a lot of them on frame. Serrano is probably the most technically skilled player on the roster. He can beat anyone 1v1 on the inside and can finish in a lot of different ways.
Fullbacks - They have four starting caliber fullbacks who interchange all the time. Our old friend Manny Perez and Atlanta United academy player Aiden McFadden play on the right side. USL/MLS veteran Amadou Dia and Jake Morris (Aidan’s brother) play on the left. They all play high, hit crosses and crash the back post. It feels like at least one fullback scores every week.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Set The Tone - Like most lower division teams in any major sport, the chance to take a swing at one of the big dogs will not be taken likely by the Louisville City players. Many of those guys believe they should be playing at the MLS level (or already have in their careers) and will use this opportunity to leave everything they’ve got out there on the pitch. If you’re Austin FC, you need to shut the hope of a “cupset” down early. To do that, you come out as the more physically dominant and mentally sharp team. You set the tone with crisp passes, clear communication on defense and by letting your superior talent shine through in between those lines. It’s a simple formula that in reality is easier said than done. But if you’re a good MLS team, you win this game. If we get to halftime and can honestly say “Austin really set the tone there,” then I have little doubt the Verde and Black advance by the final whistle.
Predictions
ZG- 2-1 Austin FC
E- 1-1 Austin FC advances in PKs
