LAFC still on the rise ahead of meeting with hurdlers Austin FC

Los Angeles FC will travel to Austin FC on Wednesday for a clash of Western Conference teams going in opposite directions.

LAFC (10-4-3, 33 points) is on a roll, winning eight straight in all competitions and six straight league games, including a 3-1 decision at Orlando City on Saturday that propelled them into the second in the West.

Denis Bouanga scored twice and Mateusz Bogusz scored the winner in the 80th minute. LAFC saw their five game clean sheet come to an end, but they still dominated the home side to win their third road game.

“Winning is contagious, winning is important,” Los Angeles coach Steve Cherundolo said after the win over Orlando. “Winning away from home is a lot of fun. It certainly wasn’t our prettiest game, but credit to Orlando. … We had solutions sometimes, but not all the time and had to soak up a lot of pressure.”

Austin (6-7-5, 23 points) is slumping before its first home game in three weeks, losing three straight and going winless in its last four. Verde’s most recent outing was a 2-0 loss at Colorado on Saturday, in which they managed just one shot on target.

Key midfielder Dani Pereira and defender Julio Cascante will not be with the squad on Wednesday as they are training for the Copa America with Venezuela and Costa Rica, respectively.

Scorer and leading man Sebastian Driussi returned for Austin on Saturday after a groin injury kept him out of the 5-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on June 1, but his effectiveness on such a short turnaround will be a situation to t ‘was seen for Verde.

“Players that aren’t here, aren’t here,” Austin coach Josh Wolff said. “We know who they are and the value they bring, and we have to go with who we have and take every opportunity we can to maximize points.”

LAFC leads the all-time series between the teams 6-2-0 and took both meetings last season while outscoring Verde 7-2.

— Field level media