Calheira Admits Frustration as Bottom-Club Sporting KC Host Austin FC in Must-Win Clash

Sporting Kansas City forward Taylor Calheira has spoken of his frustration at a season in which the club's efforts have gone unrewarded, as the Western Conference's bottom two teams prepare to meet on Saturday.

Sporting KC sit bottom of the West on 22 points and have no chance of reaching the playoffs. They have failed to win any of their last four MLS matches (D1 L3) and have lost their last two, most recently a 3-1 defeat to Real Salt Lake.

'We're all giving 100%'

Calheira was candid about the mood inside the camp, insisting the problem is not a lack of commitment.

"We're all trying. That's the frustrating part," he said. "I feel like we're all giving our 100% no matter what.

"We're trying to get out of last place. We know how big of a club the club is and how much it means to wear the Sporting badge.

"We're all trying. We're all giving our 100%, and I think that's the frustrating part, when things aren't going our way."

The wider context of Sporting KC's campaign is grim. A league table snapshot taken on 22 October 2026 showed them 15th in MLS on 22 points from 30 games with a goal difference of -39 — a collapse that followed a winless run which, as of reporting on 12 September 2026, had reached seven matches (D1 L6).

Austin's playoff hopes slipping away

Austin FC arrive with problems of their own. They have failed to win any of their last five MLS matches (D2 L3) and have slipped to three consecutive defeats, the latest a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Sitting on 31 points from 30 games as of 22 October 2026, Austin are eight points behind the ninth-place Colorado Rapids with only four games remaining, leaving interim head coach Davy Arnaud to rue his team's habit of starting slowly.

"They're good teams," Arnaud said. "They're very good teams, and against these very good teams, you have to be performing at a top level from the start of the game, which we haven't been."

Players to watch

Sporting Kansas City – Andre Luiz: Luiz had an assist on Kansas City's goal against Salt Lake and now has nine goal contributions (seven goals, two assists) in his nine career MLS matches. Despite not making his debut until 29 August, his nine goal contributions are already the third-most by an SKC player this season, behind Dejan Joveljic (11) and Calvin Harris (10).

Austin FC – Myrto Uzuni: Uzuni scored his seventh goal of the season and his third with his left foot against Vancouver. He now has six career left-footed regular-season goals for Austin, the second-most by any player in club history and trailing only Jon Gallagher (seven).

Match prediction: draw

Sporting KC earned their first road win of the series against Austin in May, but the club have never won consecutive matches in the fixture. The only time Kansas City have taken at least a point from consecutive meetings with Austin came in the first two clashes of the series in 2021 — a win and a draw.

Sporting KC have now conceded at least three goals in 15 different MLS matches this season following their 3-1 loss to RSL. No other team in MLS history has had more than 13 matches with three or more goals allowed in a single regular season.

Meanwhile, since joining MLS in 2021, Austin have scored exactly 100 regular-season road goals. That is the second-fewest among teams who have been in the league every season during that span, bettering only Toronto FC's 86.

Opta win probability

Sporting Kansas City – 37.2%
Draw – 26.4%
Austin FC – 36.4%