In first match since firing coach, Austin FC take on St. Louis City

Austin FC will look to get a start on a new beginning for their franchise when they travel to play St. Louis City SC on Saturday afternoon in the second of two matches between the sides.

It's the final match for the teams before MLS takes its two-month World Cup break, which can't come fast enough for the sides. Both have suffered through a mostly disappointing opening half to their respective campaigns, with St. Louis City (3-6-4, 13 points) in 14th place and Austin (3-6-5, 14 points) one place better on the strength of one more draw.

The Verde's production -- or lack of -- led to the firing of coach Nico Estevez and sporting director Rodolfo Borrell on Monday. Assistant coach Davy Arnaud is in charge as interim manager for Saturday's match as the team looks to find Estevez's replacement over the break.

"The biggest thing is no one's safe," Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver said Thursday. "Going through all of these changes before, some guys feel like, ‘Oh, it's a fresh start. I can kind of start over,' and that's really not the case. If anything, the pressure ramps up even more, and you have to prove why you should be here."

Austin's most recent match was a 2-1 home loss to West-cellar dweller Sporting Kansas City last Saturday. The Verde got a first-half stoppage goal from Mikkel Desler but surrendered goals in the 79th and 83rd minutes and never responded.

The Verde are still looking for their first road victory of the season (0-4-3) and carry a 10-match road winless streak that stretches back to 2025.

St. Louis City has momentum on their side after beating Houston in penalties in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match at home on Wednesday. St. Louis' most recent league match was a 1-1 draw on the road against D.C. United on May 16 as Chris Durkin scored in the 50th minute. A late goal by D.C. forced St. Louis to split the points and denied the club a third MLS victory in a span of eight days.

St. Louis has amassed a four-match unbeaten streak (3-0-1) over all competitions since dropping a 2-0 decision at Austin on May 3 and will get a boost from moving on in the U.S. Open Cup.

Marcel Hartel leads St. Louis with three goals this season.

"There's a lot of different factors where I think it's hard to look at the first game (with Austin) and be like, ‘Oh, what do we need to do from the first game?" St. Louis coach Yoann Damet said "There's a lot of uncertainty around the game, in terms of like what are they going to do, are they going to stick to what they've been doing.

"The main focus is on ourselves, how we're going to show up for the game, like being flexible, like sticking to our principle."

--Field Level Media