San Diego FC will try and mess with Texas as it faces Austin FC at Q2 Stadium on Sunday but will do so without some key players. SDFC will still be without forward Irving Lozano who continues to deal with a hamstring injury and Marcus Ingvartsen who suffered a leg injury in the match against Columbus being ruled out for 10 to 12 weeks.

Defender Anibal Godoy will also not be available as he represents Panama in the CONCACAF Nations League final against Mexico at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles. Godoy was integral to Thursday’s 1-0 victory by ‘Los Canaleros’ over the United States men’s national team in the semifinal round playing every second of the match. 

Austin FC is coming into the game after a 1-0 road victory over LAFC and sits in seventh place in the Western Conference standings. San Diego FC comes in as the second seed after earning a hard-fought draw against the Crew at Snapdragon Stadium making it only the second team in MLS history to go undefeated over the first four games of its inaugural season; led in goal-scoring by forward Anders Dreyer with three.

Austin FC has only scored twice this entire season but has only conceded two, thanks to great play from its defenders and goalkeeper Brad Stuver.

“Winning or losing is not how we assess things, so it’s not that when we’re winning nothing is changing and when we’re losing everything is changing,” said San Diego FC  head coach Mikey Varas. “We focus on the performance of the team, we focus on the performance of the individuals. When guys are in the good to elite range, they’ll never be moved from the lineup.”

San Diego FC will return to Snapdragon Stadium to take on LAFC on Saturday, March 29.

Photo by David Frerker