Four matches into the 2026 season, and one good sign for Austin FC is that they haven't been shut out in any of those matches.
You also may have heard, if you're at all tapped into the Austin FC podcastverse, that Facundo Torres is second in the league in chances created with 13, just one behind current leader Paxton Aaronson of the Rapids with 14. Just one of those is a big chance, though, and his total xA over four matches is 0.67, though he is outpacing that with two assists to lead the team.
However, if you look at the entire slate of team offensive numbers four games in, they're ... well, offensive, if you're a fan of Verde putting up significant numbers and scoring goals.
Let's start with a core individual number: Owen Goal is among the team leaders for goalscoring. Technically, the own goal belongs to Charlotte's Morrison Agyemang, who saved Verde from being shutout by putting a header into his own net mere minutes after his opponents went down to 10 men and his team went up 1-0.
Of the four Austin FC goal scorers with a single goal, two are forwards (Christian Ramírez and Myrto Uzuni), and two are defenders (Jon Bell and Brendan Hines-Ike).
Sample sizes being what they are, I believe this will shift over time, but looking at all the underlying numbers, and knowing what's on the horizon, I'm concerned that this could be a lot more bereft offensively before it gets better.
The team is 18th in the Supporters' Shield standings at present, but 11th in the West, with the West looking to be the stronger of the two conferences so far as a shift from 2025. But a lot of those underlying numbers put Verde below that baseline place in the standings.
