Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff is hoping the solution to his team's lack of firepower can be found when they host New York City FC in MLS.

The Verde and Black sit 10th in the Western Conference with a place in the playoffs within touching distance.

However, a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Sporting Kansas City stopped them from leapfrogging the Seattle Sounders into ninth.

While Wolff is confident being back at home will provide a boost to the team, he admitted there are still worries over the lack of goals.

"I don't know [why the team are struggling to score]," he said. "When we're at home, we seem to generate a lot more chances and more goals, and there's proof of that in our games.

"We look a lot better at home, and I'm not happy with the performances on the road. We've got to do better.

"We need to win. Our objective from the get-go was to be a playoff team. But we didn't get too carried away when we were doing well, and we're not going to get too feathered when we're not."

Meanwhile, NYCFC sit fourth in the Eastern Conference after a run of seven wins from 10 matches.

After a comfortable 2-0 victory over Montreal, head coach Nick Cushing reiterated the team's need to maintain their consistency if they want to stay in the mix at the top.

"You can see when we're good, feel when we're good because it's entertaining, it's good to watch, there's goal chances," Cushing said.

"The guys know what they need to do, but it's about drilling it and being consistent. In Austin, we have a huge opportunity to play the performance we know gives us the best opportunity to win."

Simply unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/kPUpiFKkEe
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) July 4, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Austin – Jader Obrian

Austin struggled in front of goal in their defeat to Kansas City last weekend, having just two shots, both of which came from Obrian.

While neither of them was on target, he was one of just two players to have a touch in the opposition box, managing three, with both resulting in shots.

NYCFC – Hannes Wolf

Wolf has created the most goals for NYCFC this season, setting up five as well as scoring four himself.

He assisted both goals in their win over Montreal in midweek, teeing up Alonso Martinez for those strikes.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Austin and NYCFC are meeting for the very first time in MLS regular-season play.

After back-to-back wins in May, Austin have since won just one of the following seven matches (1-0 v Minnesota United). They have only played at home twice in that run, picking up one point out of a possible six.

NYCFC's back-to-back wins have both come on home soil, while they lost their last two road games without scoring a single goal.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Austin – 37.6%

Draw – 26.4%

NYCFC – 36%