Match Preview - San Diego FC
Game Info
Kickoff: 9:39pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Snapdragon Stadium - San Diego, CA
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 1W-0D-0L record against San Diego FC.
These two teams met for the first time earlier this season at Q2 Stadium, a match that was played during a FIFA International window, with multiple key players missing for each team. It was the only league match out of the 16 played so far in 2025 that saw Austin FC scored multiple goals, a 2-1 victory that at the time put ATX in second place in the Western Conference through five weeks of play.
San Diego FC Recent Form
Just like expansion side St. Louis City SC two seasons ago, San Diego FC is off to a great start in their inaugural journey through MLS as they sit in second place in a tight Western Conference with the halfway point approaching this weekend.
Since losing to Austin FC back in March, San Diego has secured 19 points from 11 matches, a streak that includes victories over LAFC and Seattle Sounders, as well as a statement 5-0 thrashing of FC Dallas. San Diego also dropped games to Colorado Rapids and Charlotte FC at Snapdragon Stadium during that stretch. But if you just focus on the most recent form, you’ll see a team that is truly hitting its stride as “The Azules” have only lost one of their last six league games – a hard fought 1-0 defeat against Seattle on Wednesday.
Let’s take a spin back through their roster, starting with Hirving “Chucky” Lozano. He spent a decade playing in Serie A in Italy and in the Eredivisie in The Netherlands and is a household name from close to home with the Mexican Men’s National Team. Lozano has 70 caps for El Tri and has recorded 18 international goals. Beginning his professional career for Pachuca, Chucky logged 149 appearances in Liga MX before moving on to PSV Eindhoven, where he reeled off 40 goals in just 79 games. He then made the move to Napoli in the summer of 2019, making 120 league appearances and recording 35 goal contributions. Lozano then returned to PSV for another season and a half before coming back across the Atlantic to join San Diego. His resume speaks for itself and Lozano hasn’t skipped a beat as San Diego’s most expensive player, currently sitting on nine goal contributions in 13 appearances.
That nine contribution mark does not lead the team however, as SDFC is currently paced by Anders Dreyer with 12 goal contributions. Dreyer, a Danish attacking player, was most recently with Anderlecht of the first division in Belgium. Dreyer has a deadly left foot and likes to play very direct. Although he didn’t score in the first game between these two clubs, Dreyer was a handful for Austin’s defense as he accumulated 0.59 xG on eight total shots. That match was also, notably, played without Lozano.
Another player for SDFC who was a problem for the Verde and Black in the first meeting this season is Jeppe Tverskov, another Danish player. Tverskov is a box-to-box midfielder who is fantastic on the defensive side of the ball and has proven himself more than capable on the offensive side. He does a ton of dirty work and distribution for SDFC and has consistently popped off the screen whenever I watch this team play. He’s as solid as they come and his club thinks so too, as Tverskov wears the armband for San Diego.
When I watch San Diego play I see some similarities to what the first place Vancouver Whitecaps are doing this season. They play very similar styles, taking pride in crisp and direct possession while being strong in both transition and set piece defense, San Diego has conceded just 18 goals all year, which ties them with Austin FC for fourth best in the West in that metric. Unlike Austin, SDFC is also scoring goals to pair with their dominant defense. One of the rare teams to be in lockstep with their xG, Dreyer, Lozano and crew have tallied exactly 27 goals from their 27.0 xG on the year. With 40 big chances created this season, San Diego’s possession is not just for show. They probe until they can create running lanes to play their elite attack into space.
The war for this matchup will take place in the center of the pitch between these two midfields. San Diego will look to impose their will from their stout midfield unit in order to release Dreyer, Lozano, and Onni Valakari into space. You’ll also find San Diego native Luca de la Torre, a 27-year-old midfielder with 24 caps for the USMNT, causing problems for ATX as well. De la Torre scored in the first fixture versus Austin and is a crafty mid with above average distribution and holding talent.
While San Diego appears to be headed for the playoffs in their expansion season, the team is also susceptible to long bouts of possession with nothing to show for it and can be caught overextended up the pitch for ripe counter attacking opportunities. Opponents who stay disciplined in their shape can get rewarded for their extended defensive efforts in the form of goal-scoring counter opportunities. We saw Austin employ a four man midfield to take advantage of this in the first meeting, but with two key midfield suspensions in place this Saturday, San Diego will have the upper hand on paper.
Austin FC Recent Form
If you’re an Austin FC fan, then you probably aren’t having a great time. This team just took two massive steps backwards in the midweek after initiating a run of encouraging play through the latter half of May that didn’t result in wins, but did pass the eye test against some of the Western Conference’s best.
Here’s the reality. Austin FC has 11 league goals through 16 matches and has scored more than one goal just once in that sample. Austin FC has not won a league game since April 19th, a 1-0 victory against the winless LA Galaxy, who just set the MLS record for a winless streak to begin a season. Not exactly something to hang your hat on (and if you listened to Episode 228, you know ZG “isn’t hanging sh*t” right now).
Of course, examining that reality with a fine tooth comb does reveal some of the positive momentum we have been chirping about here in the North End. While the team has not won since April 19th, they also haven’t lost a match in their last four league games and have lost just once over their last seven in all competitions. The draw against Atlanta was unlucky at best, but ATX then outplayed first place Vancouver at home then followed it up with a strong road performance against Minnesota. Wins are what these guys are paid to do, but considering Austin lost to both of those clubs by an 8-1 aggregate scoreline over the last two months, playing them to a 1-1 aggregate last week was a marked improvement, especially with the context of how those games looked to the eye test.
Leading up to Wednesday’s match, I urged the club to put a double stamp on those two well-deserved points by winning a game versus an inferior Real Salt Lake team at home. Then the crushing reality hit, a reality in which Austin FC has dropped from second place to tenth over the last five weeks and officially out of the playoff picture if they were to start today.
There’s no real other way to frame this past month and season as a whole other than disappointment. The team is underperforming to the eye test and on paper. They’re boring to watch and they are underperforming their xG by more than ten goals. Speaking of xG, Austin FC has two of the most underperforming forwards in the league, according to xG-G. Brandon Vázquez leads the league in that category with Myrto Uzuni in third.
What makes this all the more baffling is that this is flat out, bar none, the most talent Austin has ever had on their roster. Removing the US Open Cup from the equation, this team has failed their “midterm exams”. It will require a very hot second half of the season to feel decent about your chances of making some noise in the postseason, and that’s IF you even make the playoffs.
After feeling confident about head coach Nico Estévez’s grasp on this club just a few days ago, my belief in his ability to get the most out of his players took a big hit Wednesday night. While we pleaded for weeks that Osman Bukari be utilized properly as a right winger, Nico and his staff fixed that only to now be finding new ways to completely forget that Myrto Uzuni exists. While the man is struggling, he still has the baseline talent to impact winning in MLS. He looks out of place, confused, and lost, and I attribute that to what he is being asked to do and how he is being asked to play. It is much more logical for that to be the case then it is that Myrto suddenly forgot how to play soccer.
He has to do better in his own right, but Nico has got to find a way to get the most out of him, as this current strategy is not working.
While the team may be quite unlucky, they also just might be bad. Both things can be true! Assuming Austin will regress to their mean and improve their pace in regard to xG would make sense in most situations, but after seeing what I saw last night, I wouldn’t bet my hard-earned money on it.
Not only is Austin outgunned in this match, the club will also be without routine starters in the midfield, with both Ilie Sanchez and Besard Sabovic serving yellow card accumulation suspensions. To make matters worse, SDFC plays through the middle of the pitch and now the team will have to rely on a youthful midfield to get the job done.
Injury Report
ATX:
Ilie Sanchez (Out - Yellow Card Accumulation)
Besard Sabovic (Out - Yellow Card Accumulation)
SDFC:
Andres Reyes (Out - Lower Body)
Emmanuel Boateng (Out - Lower Body)
Hamady Diop (Out - Lower Body)
Willy Kumado (Out - Lower Body)
San Diego FC Players to Watch
Anders Dreyer - Dreyer is second in MLS in Big Chances Created and goal contributions. He is a crafty player with a cannon left foot that has a hairpin trigger. By creating the smallest of spaces to unleash shots, the dangerous Dane is a threat to score from multiple places around the pitch. He is reliant on the distribution from the San Diego midfield to find himself in one-on-one situations with opposing fullbacks and the best defense against Dreyer may just be not letting him touch the ball.
Hirving Lozano - Chucky did not play at Q2 Stadium back in March due to injury, but even fans who aren’t aware of his presence on this San Diego roster will be after Saturday’s match. The 29-year-old provided the assist to Dreyer on the first goal in the club’s history and hasn’t skipped a beat in his return from injury. While it’s just a small 13-game sample size, he’s putting up massive underlying numbers with an xG+xA per 90 of 0.79.
Austin FC Players to Watch
Mikkel Desler - It’s been a minute since we’ve done one of these for our own guys, but what better way to introduce this segment back than with the reintroduction of Desler into the starting lineup on Saturday. Because…if he doesn’t start this game…then why did the man not get any playing time on Wednesday off the bench? Surely he’s starting, right?
Either way, it’s great to get Desler back and I have drooled over his return to full fitness since learning of him coming off the injury report after an 11-week absence. With respect to Jon Gallagher, Desler upgrades us mightily at the right fullback position, while also allowing Gally to become the “super-sub” we’ve dreamt of. I believe Desler will pick up where he left off with Osman Bukari on that right side and make him an even better threat, all the while providing Austin with fantastic individual defense. It will be a welcome sight to see Mikkel get solid minutes in a game that we are going to need him to help slow down Lozano on that side.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Catch ‘Em Off Guard - While San Diego is excellent in possession, they are susceptible to being hit on the counter. It requires a great amount of discipline to maintain your structure as they probe for space from new angles throughout the midfield, but it is imperative to do so. As they matriculate up the field, they travel together, which pulls their back line players up across midfield often. Austin scored both their goals against San Diego in transition and I expect to see a similar strategy this Saturday that employs quick-hitting counter attacks that get Austin’s fastest players into space.
Predictions
ZG - 1-1 Draw
E - 2-0 San Diego FC
