Sporting KC vs. Austin FC Preview: A Battle to Escape the Basement

Sporting Kansas City vs. Austin FC

Matchup: Sporting KC vs. Austin FC

Date: Saturday, October 24, 2026

Time: 7:30 PM CT

Venue: Sporting Park, Kansas City, Kansas

How to Watch: Apple TV

Wooden Spoon Survival

With their postseason ambitions extinguished, Sporting Kansas City enters the final stretch of the 2026 campaign playing strictly for pride and table survival. Saturday night’s tilt at Sporting Park brings a familiar Western Conference adversary to town in Austin FC, with both sides stuck in the conference basement.

Sporting KC has dropped consecutive games by a combined score of 7-1, falling 4-0 on the road to Nashville SC before suffering a 3-1 home defeat to Real Salt Lake. The defensive collapse has put Sporting KC on the brink of unwanted league history. SKC has now surrendered 75 goals on the season, leaving them just three goals away from matching the all-time MLS record of 78 conceded by the San Jose Earthquakes in 2024.

Avoiding the Wooden Spoon has become the clear rallying cry inside the locker room over these final four matches. Left back Emir Karic and goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland addressed the stakes directly in today’s media availability, saying their goal was “to avoid the wooden spoon.”

For the Texas side, the story is remarkably similar. Austin FC sits in 14th place in the West with 31 points and arrives on a three-match losing streak, having conceded nine goals across defeats to Nashville, LAFC, and the Vancouver Whitecaps. While Sporting KC sits nine points back of Austin, taking three points on Saturday is essential if SKC wants any chance of crawling out of the cellar before Decision Day.

The odds may increase of getting positive results as SKC defeated Austin FC 2-1 back in May before the World Cup break. It’s one of just six wins on the season for Sporting KC. With this match being in Kansas City, you’d think that’d bring some advantage.

Recent Form (Last Five Matches)

Sporting KC: WLDLL

Austin FC: DDLLL

Team Health & Lineup Notes

Sporting KC manager Raphael Wicky met with reporters at Compass Minerals National Performance Center to provide an update on the squad’s physical state heading into the weekend. Owen Wolff may be available, depending how practice went today and how it goes on Friday. Lasse Berg Johnsen has rejoined training, but Justin Reynolds, Moises Mosquera and Diego Borges remain unavailable. 

Taylor Calheira provided the lone bright spot on the score sheet in the loss to RSL by scoring his fourth goal of the season off a feed from Andre Luiz. Wicky brought Capita Capemba on for the final 30 minutes last weekend, and the Angolan winger could see increased action on the flank opposite Andre Luiz as SKC searches for more vertical punch.

Jake Davis could be due for more minutes, and perhaps even a start, as the midfield has looked pretty awful the last few games since Berg Johnsen went down injured. Perhaps Wolff can get on the field and light things up against his former team. Certainly, he’ll be motivated with the news that he’s wanted out of Austin long before they transferred him over the summer.

Austin FC continues to lean heavily on Myrto Uzuni, who opened the scoring against Vancouver last Saturday to reach seven goals on the year. Former Sporting KC midfielder Ilie Sanchez also makes his return to Sporting Park, though he has transitioned into a late-match rotational role off the bench for Austin over recent weeks.

Tactical Matchup Keys

• The Andre of it All: Can Andre Luiz get back to dominating individual matchups? The Brazilian winger set up Calheira’s goal against RSL, but Sporting KC struggled to maintain sustained pressure inside the final third. Isolating Andre Luiz on the right wing against Austin’s outside backs will be critical to opening up central seams.

• First-Half Concentration: Sporting KC has conceded inside the opening 15 minutes in each of their last three matches, putting themselves in immediate deficits. Tightening up defensive communication during set pieces and transitional tracking is mandatory against an Austin side that averages over a goal per match away from home.

• Winless Streaks: With both clubs riding multi-match winless stretches and sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference table, whoever controls the central midfield tempo between whoever starts among Kwaku Agyabeng, Jake Davis and Zorhan Bassong, and Austin’s central tandem will likely tilt the contest and shield shaky backlines.

I-35 Cup

Update: I almost forgot, Sporting KC can win a trophy this year.

This match-up will be critical to see who wins the I-35 Cup. All four I-35 teams, SKC, FC Dallas, Austin FC and Minnesota United compete for this trophy. With a win against Austin, Kansas City could actually take a step towards lifting a trophy in 2026. They also play MNUFC and Dallas again this year. You have to cling onto the little things.

— The Loony Bin (@loonybinpodcast.bsky.social) 2026-10-22T22:18:14.145Z

Prediction

Sporting Park provides the stage for a late-season scrap between two squads desperate to stop their slide. Sporting KC has shown flashes of attacking life at home when pushing tempo through Andre Luiz and Capita. If Cleveland and the defense can clean up their early-match mistakes, Sporting KC has the offensive weapons to hold off Austin and collect three points.

But nothing about Kansas City’s recent form suggests they deserved to be picked as winners. Prove me wrong boys!

Sporting KC and Austin FC Draw 1-1