Austin FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes Preview | OneFootball

I had a delicious supper of crow pot pie last Saturday. In my preview of Houston vs. Earthquakes I uttered this prophetic, yet ultimately damning, statement: “…in their last 30 meetings (that’s going back over 15 years), these two have never produced a 0-0 draw. So… goals. Yes. There will at least be one goal, and most likely two or three.”

Of course the game ended 0-0. So in the spirit of my preposterously poor predictive portents, I will declare up front that this game will end 0-0. Take that, fate. I raspberry in your general direction.

Austin FC Current Form

The Verde and Black sit  in 14th place in the West with only 24 points, well below the lowest playoff seed. That said, they’ve been on a bit of a tear in the past weeks.

They got three wins in Leagues Cup before getting eliminated by Toluca in the quarterfinals. Their league run of form has been equally impressive, which saw them take seven of nine points in their last three matches.

While Myrto Uzuni still leads Austin in goals scored (6), Facundo Torres has begun heating up, finding the net twice in the last three games to go along with his team-leading 6 assists Keeping their momentum heading into the final third of the season is critical.

San Jose Current Form

It’s been a Jekyll and Hyde season for San Jose so far. Just look at their results. Thanks to that record-setting start of eleven wins in twelve, they’ve been able to weather the recent slump and are still in 4th place.

Though you wouldn’t know it from the scoreline, last week’s 0-0 draw with Houston saw them produce one of their strongest 90 minutes of soccer since the World Cup break. This should give the side some optimism. Another strong tailwind is their overall away form. They’re third in MLS having seized 20 of a possible 33 points on the road, and their 6 wins is second behind Inter Miami (who have 8).

He’s cooled significantly since the World Cup break, but Preston Judd still leads San Jose with 11 goals, all scored in open play. Timo Werner is behind him with 6, plus he has 4 assists.

Recent History

Austin won the 2024 and 2025 home fixtures over San Jose by scores of 4-3 and 3-1 respectively. But more relevant is what happened in the reverse fixture earlier this season. San Jose trailed Austin 1-0 at halftime before unleashing a veritable onslaught which saw them score five unanswered goals, including three in a ten minute span.

The Hooligan Take

Our pals at the Designated Pundits have this match at an almost even line, nearly 33.3% across the board for a win/draw/loss. They know their stuff, but my gut is telling me something different. San Jose showed some backbone last week, and I suspect Austin will be the second Texas team to get stymied by the Bay Area side. Preston Judd will rediscover his shooting boots. New arrival Eduard Löwen will get an assist.

Austin FC 1 – 3 San Jose Earthquakes