Charlotte FC's predicted starting XI vs Austin FC

By Ryan Donahue

Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90

After a successful week in Ohio, Charlotte is back on the road this weekend as they head south to Texas where they will face off against Austin FC this Saturday at 8:30 PM ET.

With a win and a draw against two of the Eastern Conference’s best in Cincinnati and Columbus, Charlotte, who currently sits sixth in the EC, will confidently head into this matchup against Austin, who is 10th in the West.

Austin, who has won one in the last three matches has performed better at home this season with a record of six wins, three losses, and three draws. However, regarding production, the Texas side has struggled to keep the ball out of the back of their net. Austin has conceded 35 goals so far this season while only scoring 26 giving them the fourth-worst goal differential in the Western Conference and 10th-worst across the entire league.

Charlotte, who has consistently demonstrated strong defensive displays throughout the season, will hope that Kerwin Vargas and Patrick Agyemang can continue their impressive form, having each contributed with goals against Columbus and Cincinnati, and will seek to take advantage of the opposition less than convincing back line.

Our team assessed how Dean Smith could line up his side ahead of Charlotte's matchup. 

Defensive unit

In goal, Kristijan Khalina will start again having continued to display excellent form throughout this season’s campaign.

In the defense, the outside backs will likely stay the same with Jere Uronen and Nathan Byrne both favored to start. The center-back partnership this weekend is one area where Smith could look to change with Andrew Privett forced to come off early due to a knock in Wednesday night’s game, Smith could opt for Bill Tuloma as the partner to Adilson Malanda if Privett is unavailable.

Midfield line

In the midfield, having played two games in the past week Smith may consider rotations to the midfield. Ashley Westwood is the most likely of the midfield three to start however Smith may look to leverage Ben Bender, Nikola Petković or Brecht Dejaegere as rotational options for Brandt Bronico and Djibril Diani who started both of Charlotte’s previous two matches.

Forward line

In his press conference yesterday, Smith mentioned that he sees Karol Świderski as a nine. This means he will likely be pushing Agyemang to the bench. This is an interesting statement because Smith's stance initially was that he saw Świderski as a versatile player, but it seems the Polish forward's role may be solidified.

Vargas could maintain his position on the left wing but the question will be how Smith opts to replace Abada.

The most likely replacement is Iuri Tavares, who has been one of the first attacking substitutes lately. Tavares generally plays on the left, so if he is given the nod there is a chance Vargas rotates to the right.

Tyger Smalls is the other likely candidate. If he is given the nod then he will probably be on the right and Vargas will maintain his preferred position on the left.

Predicted XI