San Antonio FC defender Mitchell Taintor (left) battles for possession during a USL Championship match against Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. SAFC faces Sacramento on Saturday in its last home match until July 4.
Celina Leyva/San Antonio FC
It will be a battle between two of the USL Championship league’s top defenses when Sacramento Republic FC pays a visit to Toyota Field to take on San Antonio FC on Saturday.
SAFC (4-1-5, 17 points), which sits atop the USL Western Conference table, and Sacramento (3-1-4, 13 points), fifth in the conference standings, kick off at 7:30 p.m.
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San Antonio comes into the match on the heels of a hard-fought 1-0 road win over One Knoxville SC in Knoxville, Tenn., last Saturday in the second round of the Prinx Tires USL Cup.
Defender Tiago Suarez scored the go-ahead goal just before halftime. Goalkeeper Richard Sanchez preserved the shutout for SAFC, making two saves for his fourth clean sheet across all competitions this season, including two in USL Cup action.
The win over Knoxville put SAFC in the top spot in Group 3 of the cup standings.
Sacramento also won in USL Cup action last Saturday, beating Oakland Roots SC 1-0 at home.
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SAFC and Sacramento have two of the league’s stingiest defenses, with the Republic conceding seven goals, the second lowest in USL play. San Antonio is not far behind, conceding only nine goals so far in league action.
In addition, SAFC has five clean sheets in league play, tied for the most in USL. Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni has come up with four of those clean sheets and is credited with 28 saves, tied for second in the league.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” SAFC defender Danny Barbir said. “We’re going to have to beat them on the ball, be dialed in defensively as a unit and make sure we’re going to create a lot of chances.”
SAFC coach Carlos Llamosa said Sacramento is still a solid defensive club despite changing up its defensive formation this season.
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“This year, they’re playing more with a back four, 4-4-2, 4-1-4, but last year they played with five in the back,” Llamosa said. “But the way they defend is kind of the same. They’re very compact, especially in the middle of the field. So, as I say, we need to be sharp, especially in the point of attack, make sure we create gaps between those guys and create chances.”
San Antonio has scored 12 goals in USL play while Sacramento has tallied 11 scores. One strength SAFC has over the Republic is that they have created more shot opportunities, with San Antonio taking 131 shots, which is third in the league, compared to Sacramento’s 89.
In the win against Knoxville, Llamosa was pleased with the effort his squad gave, as he was able to give significant minutes on the pitch to several reserve players, which enabled Llamosa to try out different lineups and formations he can utilize in future matches.
San Antonio FC midfielder Lucio Berron passes the ball during a USL Championship match against Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. Sacramento scored two late goals to win 3-1.
Celina Leyva/San Antonio FC
“I think the whole squad who played in that game did really well,” Llamosa said. “Alexis (Souahy) and Danny (Barbir) haven’t played much this year. I think they were great on the field. Richard (Sanchez) was tremendous. We had Lucio (Berron) for the first time in the starting lineup. He was winning a lot of second balls in the middle, he was good. Curt (Calov) managed the tempo of the game in the second half in the middle. So, I was very pleased with everybody in that game.”
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For midfielder Nicky Hernandez, the Knoxville match was his first action on the pitch in five months as he is coming back from a foot injury.
“It was a long time, but these guys have helped a lot. We have a great staff,” Hernandez said. “Put my head down and keep working, and I stepped up whenever they needed me to and it’s a different role than what I did last year. Maybe I win a spot for the starting 11, but we have really good depth this year, so it’s a good problem to have for the coaches and us to bring the standard up more.”
The Sacramento match will be the last home game for SAFC for over a month. San Antonio has four straight road matches across all competitions and won’t return to Toyota Field until July 4 against Monterey Bay FC.
SAFC is 3-0-2 in league play at home this year. While it is undefeated in USL action at Toyota Field, San Antonio hasn’t won a home match in over a month since a 2-0 win over Lexington SC on March 29. In its previous league games at home, SAFC has settled for draws against Miami FC (0-0) and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (3-3).
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Barbir emphasized the need for the club to get a win at home since they will be away from Toyota Field for a month.
“It will be massive, protecting home field is what we set out to do from the start of the season,” Barbir said. “It’s important to win at home, especially we have a four-game stretch away from home. So, it would be massive to get this win and just keep the momentum going.”
Sacramento leads the all-time series record against SAFC at 8-5-4, including a 0-0 draw and a 3-1 win over San Antonio last year. The last time SAFC beat Sacramento was in 2024, a 2-1 win.
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