Austin FC II hits the road on Sunday to face Minnesota United FC 2 for a 2:00 p.m. CT kickoff at National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine, Minnesota. The match will be available to watch on OneFootball and MLSNEXTPro.com.
Austin FC II Outlook
Austin FC II is coming off its sixth consecutive win, beating LAFC 2 by a score of 2-0 last weekend. The result was the team’s fifth shutout during that stretch and extended the team-record unbeaten streak to 11 matches, as the Verde & Black still have not lost since the opening night of the season – which happened to be against this week’s opponent MNUFC 2.
Austin’s goals came just two minutes apart in the victory over LAFC 2. Ervin Torres came on at the half and put the Verde & Black on the board with a free kick through a crowded box into the bottom right corner, before Ibrahima Sall doubled ATXFC II’s lead by capitalizing on a mistake for his third goal of the season.
As mentioned, MNUFC 2 handed the Verde & Black their only loss of the season so far back in March. Austin will be out to avenge that 4-2 defeat on Sunday.
Minnesota United FC 2 Outlook
Minnesota United FC 2 enters the weekend off back-to-back wins, having most recently defeated Sporting KC II 4-3. Marcus Caldeira fueled the performance with two goals and an assist. Caldeira is the team’s primary attacking threat with seven goals to his name this season.
Minnesota currently holds a 6-5-2 record and sits in seventh place in the MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference standings. Interestingly, half of the team’s six wins have come on the road, including the one against Austin.
A key area of focus for the Verde & Black will be defending the wide areas – Minnesota's average of 4.8 accurate crosses per match ranks second-most in MLS NEXT Pro.
