Austin FC v St. Louis City SC: Estevez wants to use U.S. Open Cup pain as 'fuel' for playoffs

Austin FC head coach Nico Estevez is determined to use their pain from losing the U.S. Open Cup final as "fuel" for their playoff run.

Nashville SC went on to win the trophy after defeating Austin 2-1 on Wednesday, with Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge scoring either side of Myrto Uzuni's goal, but the Albanian striker also missed a penalty in the final.

Austin are currently sixth in the Western Conference, and a win against St. Louis City SC in their next match will see them guarantee an automatic spot in the playoffs.

Estevez admitted defeat in the U.S. Open Cup final hurt his side, but they are now focused on bouncing back.

"We deserved much more from this final than what we got. What we can learn is to use the pain that we have," said Estevez.

"It is not easy, I would like to recognise that it is more easy to play in a final. To lose finals, you have to play finals, and I'm very proud of the players for the journey that they have had to arrive here to this point.

"We lost, hopefully the players will learn from that, and that pain what we have will be the fuel to wake us up tomorrow and push us towards what we want to get from the rest of the season."

St. Louis are already out of playoff contention, 10 points behind ninth-place San Jose Earthquakes with just two games remaining.

Their three-match unbeaten run was also snapped last time out as they were defeated 3-0 by Los Angeles FC.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Austin FC – Besard Sabovic

Besard Sabovic's late goal for Austin against Real Salt Lake in a 3-1 defeat was the club's 10th headed goal of the season.

It marked the fourth straight season in which Austin has scored at least 10 headed goals, the only team to do so in each of the last four campaigns.

St. Louis City – Joao Klauss

Joao Klauss has been St. Louis' most prolific attacker this season, scoring nine goals and providing two assists.

Both of those assists have come in his last three appearances, but the Brazilian has not scored since August 23.

MATCH PREDICTION – AUSTIN FC WIN

Austin are unbeaten in nine-straight regular-season home matches (W3 D6), the longest streak in club history. Austin have won their last two home matches; their first set of consecutive home league wins this season.

After a 13-match winless run on the road in all competitions (D1 L12), St. Louis have won each of their last two away matches. This is their first set of consecutive road wins since June-July 2023, while their only string of three straight away wins came in their first three all-time road matches.

After losing three of the first four meetings (D1), Austin recorded its first-ever win over St. Louis with a 1-0 victory on March 30. The last two matches have each ended 1-0 (one win each) after there were a total of 18 goals scored in the first three meetings between the sides.

In their last six league matches, Austin have won three and lost three. St. Louis, meanwhile, have won two, drawn one and lost three in their last six.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Austin FC – 51.3%

Draw – 24.8%

St Louis City – 24%