Wednesday, October 14 | 7:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, CA
🖥 | WATCH: Apple TV | Coupang Play (Korea), SpoTV (Korea), Local Bar Partners
📻 | LISTEN: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, SiriusXM FC 157, KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), & KYPA 1230 AM (Korean)
LAFC hosts Austin FC at BMO Stadium on Wednesday night as part of a crucial stretch of three matches in eight days, with only five total matches remaining in the regular season. The Black & Gold stands in sixth place in the Western Conference standings (11W-9L-9D, 42 points) while Austin is in 13th place (7W-11L-10D, 31 points) and is pushing to reach the top nine in the West and earn an MLS Cup Playoffs berth.
Xavi Tamarit debuted as LAFC’s interim head coach on Saturday as the Black & Gold played 10-man Vancouver to a 1-1 draw in Los Angeles. The match marked the LAFC debuts of young attackers Leo Walta (pictured below) and Thayllon, as well as the BMO Stadium debut of midfielder Sergio Vásquez.
Despite a rough run of results since this summer’s FIFA World Cup break, the belief internally is that this roster, empowered by clear messaging from Tamarit and staff, is talented enough and committed enough to come together and make a deep run in next month’s playoffs.
Against Austin, Tamarit’s starting eleven could see some rotation or reduced minutes. Five players - Denis Bouanga, Son Heung-Min, Eddie Segura, Ryan Porteous, and Yevhen Cheberko - played all 90 minutes of Saturday night’s physical match against Vancouver, while Sergi Palencia, Armindo Sieb, and Vásquez each played more than 80 minutes. Walta came on late and showed daring new ideas in attack over the match’s final 27 minutes.
The last time LAFC met Austin, the teams drew 0-0 on April 17, just four days after LAFC had advanced past Alajuelense in the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16, and right before the FIFA international break. That night’s scoreless draw at Q2 Stadium made the Black & Gold the only club in MLS history to open a season with five consecutive clean sheets. Since then, however, LAFC has gone 7W-9L-8D in MLS play –- an uncharacteristic run of results that contributed to the tough decision to dismiss first-year head coach Marc Dos Santos late last month.
BOUANGA REMAINS INEVITABLE
LAFC’s perennial MVP candidate and Golden Boot threat, forward Denis Bouanga, scored the 80th regular-season goal of his MLS career against the Caps on Saturday, with Tamarit playing him at center forward instead of his usual spot on the left wing. Bouanga’s goal - a leaping header of a cross by Palencia - was just the second headed goal among the 123 he has scored for LAFC in all competitions since he arrived in LA in 2022.
The goal also made Bouanga one of only four active players with 80 career regular-season goals, joining Columbus’ Josef Martínez (131 goals), Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar (96), and Vancouver’s Brian White (94). Among those players, only Martínez reached the 80-goal mark faster than Bouanga, whose 80th goal came in his 128th regular-season appearance. Martínez scored his 80th goal in his 94th regular-season appearance. (Mukhtar scored number 80 in his 172nd appearance; White needed 186 appearances to get there.)
If Bouanga scores five goals over LAFC's final five matches, he would become the first player in MLS history to score 20 or more goals in four straight seasons. Only he and Lionel Messi have hit the 20-goal mark in three straight regular-season campaigns.
SCOUTING AUSTIN
The Verde’s first game following the FIFA international break was a 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Supporters’ Shield favorites Nashville SC in Austin last Saturday. Striker Brandon Vazquez pulled Austin to within 2-1 at the 76-minute mark with a sensational strike off the outside of his right boot, and he nearly equalized in the 87th minute, but Nashville, the league’s most consistent and most dominant team in 2026, closed things out with two late goals to seal the 4-1 result.
It was Austin’s first regular-season loss since a 2-1 defeat against Dallas on August 16. The Verde are 3W-1L-5D in MLS play over their last nine matches.
Former LAFC forward Christian Ramirez leads Austin with nine goals scored. Facundo Torres is Austin’s assist leader, with eight.
LAFC’s record against Austin across all competitions is 9W-4L-3D.
LAFC WILL WIN IF
Tamarit’s ideas take hold and LAFC’s attack opens up. LAFC played with a man advantage for 82 minutes against Vancouver but trailed the Caps in possession and xG. That can happen when a new coach’s prematch plan is disrupted by an opponents’ early red card and subsequent low-block defending.
Austin has conceded the third-most goals in the Western Conference (51, tied with San Diego and Minnesota) and allows the second-most shots on target in all of MLS (only Orlando allows more) so Bouanga, Son, and company may find room to express themselves.
AUSTIN CAN WIN IF
They sit in a low block and LAFC’s finishing misses the mark. Austin is five points shy of the West’s final playoff spot and still has a shot at the postseason, so temporary head coach Davy Arnaud (Jim Curtin will assume the permanent role after the season) is seeking points however he can find them – especially with first-place Vancouver up next on the schedule.
BMO Stadium has been a hard place to find points over the last decade, however, and this year has been no exception. LAFC owns a 8W-3L-3D record at home in MLS play.
