Austin vs FC Juarez Prediction (30.07.2023)

While Liga MX and Major League Soccer are away, Leagues Cup will play. The very best from Mexico and the United States are battling it out in an electric tournament this summer as we attempt to determine who the best club in North America is. Today, we’ll be taking a look at a clash between Austin FC and FC Juarez.

Austin FC are still a fresh entity within the context of the MLS and as such, they need to be given the necessary time to grow and develop as a franchise. They have a few intriguing prospects coming through the ranks but before they can focus on becoming a force on the pitch, the infrastructure needs to be sound. It sounds dull, but this is what expansion teams need to get right.

It feels as if Austin were quite taken aback by what happened in their opening game. They looked fairly complacent at various points and that came back to bite them, with the club suffering a 3-1 defeat to Mazatlan.

FC Juarez is a club that is less than a decade old, and you can kind of tell. They just about earned 11th place in the Apertura last season but in the Clausura, they just could not get out of their own way with 15 points from 17 games. Given how young they are, though, we’d say they don’t have to worry too much about the future just yet - and they should see this tournament as them having nothing to lose.

Juarez scratched and clawed their way to a 1-1 draw with Mazatlan in what proved to be a pretty competitive game. Alas, they couldn’t maintain that in the shootout, as they proceeded to lose 4-2 on penalties.

Austin and Juarez are teams that can be described as young and eager, wanting to make a strong impression from the word go. When putting them together, though, it does feel as if they could cancel each other out quite easily, which is why we’re backing under 2.5 goals scored.