Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff challenged his team to fight against "adversity" when they host derby rivals Houston Dynamo on Saturday.

Austin are 10th in the Western Conference, and are 10 points behind the playoff spots, with the Dynamo currently sitting in seventh place.

They have won just one of their last seven MLS outings (a 2-0 win over Nashville SC), and are winless in three, though they did draw 1-1 with Los Angeles FC last time out.

When asked if he was still targeting the playoffs, Wolff insisted that his team would fight to the last game.

"More adversity, bring it on," he said. "It's what we have to deal with.

"These guys compete, they have nothing but confidence in what we're doing. We should have more points based on some of the performances, but we keep looking forward and powering on.

"We need a big, big push at home and a big performance, but it's certainly attainable."

Meanwhile, Houston are unbeaten in each of their last four outings, winning two and drawing two, but were unable to hold onto their lead in a 1-1 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps in midweek.

They can make history on Saturday though – a win would set a new record for road victories in a single season, and it would be their first-ever triumph at Q2 Stadium, having lost all five previous visits.

"We're thinking of the game in front of us right now, and we owe Austin," Griffin Dorsey said. "They took six points from us.

"It's a rivalry game in a good atmosphere. It'll be a great night to take three points from them, and [making history] would make it more special."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Austin FC – Jader Obrian

On Wednesday, Jader Obrian notched his team-leading sixth goal of the season, but it was his first road goal in 2024.

The only MLS player with at least six goals this season to have a higher percentage of them coming at home than Obrian (83.3%) is William Agada of Sporting Kansas City (88.9%).

Houston Dynamo – Ezequiel Ponce

Ezequiel Ponce scored Houston's lone goal on a penalty kick in their 1-1 draw with Vancouver on Wednesday.

It was just the Dynamo's second penalty attempt in the regular season in 2024. The club had at least four penalty-kick attempts in each of the previous seven seasons entering 2024.

MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN

The Dynamo have recorded three straight road wins in all competitions for the first time since a six-match winning streak away from home in 2011-12. That six-match run is Houston's only road winning streak longer than three matches.

Austin have won three straight matches against the Dynamo, keeping clean sheets in all three wins. The Black and Verde have never recorded four straight regular-season wins against a single opponent.

However, Austin have won just one of their last six regular-season home matches (D2 L3) dating back to late May. They had won five straight at Q2 Stadium prior to this drought.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Austin FC – 33.8%

Draw – 25.7%

Houston Dynamo – 40.5%

Vanni Sartini has backed Vancouver Whitecaps to finish high up the table at the end of the season and is targeting a win over high-flying Houston Dynamo.

The Whitecaps currently sit sixth in the Western Conference on 45 points, but only three points separate them and second-place Los Angeles FC.

They are on a three-match unbeaten streak in MLS, though their last defeat in the competition did come against Wednesday's opponents.

Sartini believes his team can continue to challenge for a place at the top given their impressive record this season.

"I think I count two games out of 36 where the other team was better than us and where we didn't play well, and it tells us that we do well," Sartini said.

"We are having a really great season. The times of hiding ourselves is over. We need to really say we are here until the end and try to shoot for the highest position.

"We might not make it, but we have the quality to do it."

Meanwhile, the Dynamo sit just one place and one point below Vancouver in the table.

Houston have lost just one of their last seven league matches and go into this game on the back of an impressive 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake. Head coach Ben Olsen is ready to use that result as a springboard.

"It's time to turn it on. This is where we're at in the season," he said.

"It's collectively showing up and playing our best. A lot of these teams that we're going to play are above us. It means they're good, but hopefully, that lights a fire in us that we want to move forward and move up."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Houston Dynamo – Ezequiel Ponce

The Dynamo have scored 14 goals in the final 15 minutes of matches this season, including Ezequiel Ponce's goal on Saturday.

Only Colorado Rapids (15) have more goals after the 75th minute in 2024.

Vancouver Whitecaps – Fafa Picault

Fafa Picault has scored six goals against the Dynamo, more than against any other opponent in his MLS career, including scoring braces in each of his last two matches against Houston.

The last player to score multiple goals in three straight matches against a single opponent was David Villa vs. Toronto in 2015-16.

MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN

The Dynamo have won back-to-back matches over the Whitecaps, scoring four goals in each win. This is the first time Houston has recorded consecutive wins over Vancouver (24 all-time meetings).

Indeed, the Dynamo have won six of their last 10 regular season matches (D2 L2), including a 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday, after they had recorded just three wins in their previous 13 league matches (D5 L5).

Meanwhile, Vancouver are unbeaten in six straight away matches in all competitions (W4 D2), equalling the club's longest road unbeaten run in all competitions since joining MLS in 2011 (W1 D5 in July-August 2021).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Houston Dynamo – 50.7%

Draw – 25%

Vancouver Whitecaps – 24.3%

Brighton were taught a harsh lesson on their Europa League debut as Greek champions AEK Athens ran out 3-2 winners after a pulsating encounter at the Amex Stadium.

Substitute Ezequiel Ponce struck the winner on the counter-attack six minutes from the end of normal time as Roberto De Zerbi’s side failed to heed the signs after falling behind twice previously in the first half.

Joao Pedro equalised from the penalty spot in the first period then again in the second, both times after VAR had intervened in Brighton’s favour.

The hosts had the better of the play but they lacked the clinical edge of AEK, who scored with two excellent finishes from set-pieces. The first goal was a superb header from Djibril Sidibe, followed by a sliding finish from Mijat Gacinovic as Brighton were undone by nerves and their own naivety.

The opening goal came after 11 minutes and was against the early run of the play.

AEK’s first attack saw them win a corner on the left after a low cross was turned behind. As the ball was whipped in, no one had picked up the lurking Sidibe who with a late dash into the box caught Brighton out with a superb 15-yard diving header that whistled past Jason Steele.

De Zerbi’s side had been badly caught out, and seconds later it could have been two. Levi Garcia, who would torment Brighton in the first period with pace and clever movement, raced beyond the defence and went through on goal, but Garcia’s tame finish was too close to Steele.

Garcia wasted another glorious chance to double the lead from an almost identical position, this time slipping his effort just beyond the far post.

Pedro nodded wide from a free header inside the six-yard box as Brighton finally put together an attack to concern the AEK defence, but within a minute he had made amends for his profligacy.

When defender Ehsan Hajsafi dangled a leg as Pedro looked to cut inside to shoot the referee initially booked the striker for diving. But after a pitchside VAR review the booking was rescinded, Pedro stepped up and coolly rolled his penalty beyond Cican Stankovic to score Brighton’s first European goal.

At that stage it appeared that they had had their reprieve for the way they had left themselves vulnerable to AEK’s threat, but five minutes before the break there was another fine delivery from a set-piece and another critical lapse in concentration.

Brighton held a high line on the edge of their own box as a free-kick was whipped in from 40 yards out, but as blue shirts charged back towards their own goal none could prevent Gacinovic from sliding to get a foot on the ball to turn it beyond Steele.

There was still time for Jan-Paul Van Hecke to deny Orbelin Pineda what would have been a deserved third for AEK on the stroke of half-time.

There was relief then around the Amex when the referee was directed pitch-side for another VAR review after Pedro’s tumble inside the box under Damian Szymanski’s challenge had at first been waved on.

As in the first half, the decision was overturned, and Pedro got to his feet to replicate his earlier composed finish to draw Brighton level again.

De Zerbi was booked for remonstrating too forcefully on the touchline, before Pedro was handed the chance to seal his hat-trick and an opening night win when he spring the offside trap and went one-on-one with Stankovic. This time the goalkeeper got the better of their duel.

Then came AEK’s final sting. A raking ball from the back was nodded out wide by Ponce to Niclas Eliasson, who returned the ball to his fellow substitute. Although Steele blocked Ponce’s shot, the rebound ricocheted off the Argentinian and into the net for the winner.