Match Preview - San Diego FC
Game Info
Kickoff: 8:40pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Snapdragon Stadium - San Diego, CA
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 1W-0D-1L all-time record against San Diego FC.
The first meeting between these two teams was in March of last season at Q2 Stadium, a 2-1 Austin FC victory during an international break. That match saw Brandon Vazquez score his first goal in an Austin FC uniform.
In the return leg, San Diego took care of business with two second half goals to defeat the Verde & Black by a 2-0 scoreline.
San Diego FC Recent Form
The expansion darlings of MLS last season, San Diego FC is coming off a top seeded finish in the Western Conference and a 3-1 loss in the Western Conference Final at the hands of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
As we discussed on Monday’s Episode 306, this team finished on 63 points last season with 64 goals scored and 41 conceded. Maybe the largest factor in their success was how well the team fared away from home. San Diego recorded 37 points in their 17 road matches last season, good for the best road record in MLS in 2025.
There wasn’t a ton of roster turnover in the offseason for this club, but one current absence is driving a wedge between multiple parties in the San Diego FC universe. DP forward Chucky Lozano was the face of this club as they began their maiden voyage in MLS last February. By the time the playoffs rolled around, he was just working his way back into the matchday roster as a reserve following a team-imposed suspension for conduct detrimental to the club.
Reporting isn’t exactly clear on what Lozano did or said to cause the rift but the team announced in the preseason that Lozano, who recorded nine goals and ten assists in 22 starts last season, was no longer in their plans going forward. Per Tuesday’s salary release by the MLSPA, Lozano is the fourth highest paid player in the league this season, making north of $9 million this year.
Initally it didn’t appear like the club was doing anything but picking up where they left off last season. They began the year by advancing past Pumas in CCC and then won their first three league games by an aggregate score of 8-0. But after they were bounced out of CCC in the next round by Toluca (who will host the CCC Final this month), they dropped their next five MLS matches, picking up four red cards in that stretch.
While San Diego has managed to put the train back on the tracks so to speak with draws against LAFC and Seattle, this is still a team that is winless since March 7 in MLS play. Not to mention, they drew both of those most recent games from winning positions.
The two-month downturn has been so offputting to some of the club’s more passionate fans that a plane recently flew overhead at Snapdragon Stadium with a banner that read “#FreeChucky=More Wins”.
But even with the turmoil surrounding the club’s highest paid player, it’s not all bad in San Diego right now. Striker Marcus Ingvartsen has found his form after spending most of last season sidelined with injuries. He’s recorded eight goals and two assists in his 10 starts this season and last season’s MVP runner-up Anders Dreyer (the team’s only “special” roster slot player in the rotation currently) has five goals and six assists. With midfielder Onni Valakari sporting three goals and three assists, that trio has accounted for 64.2% of the club’s goal contributions this season, a clear group of guys to look out for when San Diego is in possession on Wednesday night.
Speaking of possession, this team is tops in the league in average possession for the second straight season, averaging 62.5% of the ball per game. This is still a club that wants to break you down with quick precise passing through their uber-talented midfield, something we saw San Diego do to nearly every team that crossed their path in 2025. Team captain and midfielder Jeppe Tverskov has missed the last two matches due to injury, if he’s forced to miss this midweek fixture, it would be a big boost for Austin FC.
Austin FC Recent Form
Austin FC may have escaped Minnesota with a point on Sunday night, but they also picked up a pair of concerning injuries on the back line. Speculating based on the comments made by head coach Nico Estévez in the post-match press conference, Brendan Hines-Ike is likely out through the World Cup break with a soft tissue injury. Jon Bell on the other hand, who was removed from Sunday’s match due to concussion protocol, has not yet been ruled out for this match and there was no official concussion diagnosis reported. (Update: Bell is available for selection on Wednesday)
It sure would help to have Bell’s services in this match, considering his absence would likely slide Mateja Djordjevic into the starting group paired with Oleksandr Svatok. Now, I’m not that concerned about Djordjevic being out there, rather that it would mean that Austin FC would be out of natural centerbacks in case either of those guys need to be subbed out on Wednesday.
Of course, you could see Guilherme Biro sliding over into a centerback slot as well, we’ve seen that tactic employed in the past. Ultimately, it’s shaping up to be the same story, different position, when it comes to the injury report for ATX.
But for me, there’s reason to be optimistic headed into this match. For one, we should see the trio of Dani Pereira, Owen Wolff and Brandon Vazquez make second half appearances once again. Having those three guys available, even in the reserve roles we’ve seen the last two weeks, is a huge boost to the Verde & Black, especially when they’ve struggled to keep opponents out of the net in the final 15 minutes of games this season no matter the game state.
The performances from Austin have also been trending upwards of late as the strength of schedule has declined. They’re not wildly overperforming, but they’ve been getting the job done, earning seven points from their last available nine and scoring six times while conceding just twice in that span.
That’s good enough to lift them into 10th place in the Western Conference table, two points back of the wild card spot and seven back of third place. Still not ideal, but a much nicer looking standing than the 13th place this team found themselves in just three weeks ago.
From my fan perspective, any result we can get in this midweek match is great, of course pending the provided context of the 90 minutes we’ll see this team put on film. But that comes with the caveat that they must win at home against Sporting KC, who has a -24 goal differential through 11 matches, on Saturday. Get through this match with a solid performance and without lengthening the injury report and we’ll be alright coming back home for must-win game this weekend.
Injury Report
ATX:
Jayden Nelson (Questionable - Lower Body)
Robert Taylor (Out - Knee)
Brendan Hines-Ike (Out - Hamstring)
SD:
Jeppe Tverskov (Out - Lower Body)
CJ Dos Santos (Out - Head)
Pablo Sisniega (Out - Lower Back)
Emmanuel Boateng (Out - Lower Body)
William Kumado (Out - Lower Body)
San Diego FC Players to Watch
Anders Dreyer - Last year’s MVP runner-up, Dreyer finished San Diego’s expansion season with 19 goals and 19 assists in his 34 regular season games. The 28-year-old Danish right winger has nine career caps for his home country since 2021 and has spent time in Denmark, Russia, Netherlands and Belgium during his professional career. While San Diego’s form has dipped over the last two months, Dreyer has continued to produce. He’s racked up five goals and six assists through his 12 appearances in 2026 and is still one of the best players in MLS.
Manu Duah - A 20-year-old centerback from Ghana, Duah was the first overall pick in the 2025 MLS Superdraft after playing one season at UC Santa Barbara. He’s one of the top prospects in MLS and was ranked 15th on last year’s 22-Under-22 list. Duah is also able to play in the defensive midfield when necessary and no matter where he’s lined up, he’s one of the most physically imposing players on the pitch, standing at 6’4”. He has only found the back of the net once in his short professional career (a headed goal off a corner kick against Pumas in February of this year) but watching the kid play it sure feels like there’s more where that came from in addition to being a force on the defensive end.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Dominos! - Having been in a similar spot before with our favorite team, are you surprised if an early Austin FC goal could set off a domino effect of frustration for all involved on the San Diego side of things? This is a team that is winless in its last 10 matches across all competitions and a fanbase that didn’t experience a streak like this longer than three games in 2025. They’ve already flown the plane, they’ve already created their hashtags, a loss to Austin FC? That could turn the vibes from bad to worse and you know what? We hope that happens! Push that first domino over by scoring first (something ATX has done five times this season on the road with no wins to show for it) and start the chain reaction of despair for everyone wearing “chrome and azul” on Wednesday.
Predictions
ZG- 2-1 San Diego FC
E- 1-0 Austin FC
