St. Louis CITY SC resumes MLS play this Sunday against Austin FC at 8:30 p.m. CT at CITYPARK. The match will be streamed free on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and FS1 and can be heard by our radio partners on KYKY Y98.1 FM (English) and KXOK 102.9 FM (Spanish).
St. Louis CITY SC tasted defeat in both of their Leagues Cup group stage matches against Columbus Crew (1-2) and Club América (4-0). In their final MLS match before Leagues Cup, St. Louis CITY SC blanked Inter Miami 3-0 at CITYPARK to earn their eighth home win of the season. Sam Adeniran (corner), Tim Parker (corner) and Eduard Löwen (freekick) all found the back of the net from a set-piece situation in that match.
CITY SC leads the league in set piece goals with 18 (including penalties), four ahead of FC Cincinnati. Löwen leads the team in set piece goals (including penalties) with five, which is tied for fourth in the league behind Daniel Gazdag (nine), Thiago Almada (six) and Luciano Acosta (six).
After 23 matches played this season, CITY SC sits in first place in the MLS Western Conference standings with 41 points – four points ahead of last year’s MLS Cup Champions LAFC. CITY SC has scored the second-most goals this season (43), two behind Columbus Crew, and ranks first in goal difference (+16).
CITY SC forward Niko Gioacchini leads the team in goals in MLS play with eight, which is tied for 12th in the league, followed by Löwen with six and João Klauss with five goals. Löwen leads the team in assists with six, followed by Rasmus Alm, Klauss, Jared Stroud and Indiana Vassilev who are tied for second with four assists.
CITY SC vice-captain Tim Parker has been constant on the backline this season, helping the team to seven clean sheets thus far. Parker has scored three goals so far, tying him with Andrew Gutman, Brooks Lennon, Donovan Pines and Miguel Trauco for the fourth-most goals by a defender in MLS this season. With his header against Inter Miami, Parker surpassed his career total of two goals in his first eight seasons with three goals in 20 games for CITY SC this season.
Through 23 MLS games, CITYPARK has become a haven for CITY SC in their inaugural season. St. Louis has recorded 29 goals in 12 matches at home in MLS. CITY SC 29 goals at home is tied for second-most in the league with New England Revolution, one behind Columbus Crew. CITY SC has eight home wins in MLS this season. Excluding the shootout era, Atlanta leads expansion teams with 11 home wins and Charlotte and Montreal are tied for second with 10 home wins.
Gioacchini and Löwen lead the team in goals scored at home with six (6), while Stroud ranks first at home in assists with three. CITY SC goalkeeper Roman Bürki has recorded five clean sheets at home, which is tied for seventh in MLS this season, four behind Seattle's Stefan Frei.
On the defensive side of the ball, CITY SC has allowed 10 goals at home in MLS, which is tied for the eighth fewest goals allowed at home in the league.
The match will mark the second time CITY SC has squared up with Austin FC this season. CITY SC opened its inaugural MLS campaign with a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind road win against Austin on Matchday 1. Parker nodded in a corner from Löwen in the 24th minute to score the club’s first goal in history before Austin scored twice to take the lead heading into the home stretch of the match. Stroud leveled the match in the 78th minute before Klauss grabbed the game winner eight minutes later.
Austin FC currently sits in 5th place in the Western Conference standings with a 9-9-5 record. Austin is 3-6-2 away from home this season, scoring 14 goals and conceding 21 in the process. Sebastián Driussi and Gyasi Zardes lead Austin FC in goals with six.
Austin FC has split its two all-time matches against expansion teams (1-1-0), including a 3-2 loss to CITY SC. Austin's lone win against an expansion team playing in its inaugural season was a 1-0 road victory over Charlotte FC in 2022.
