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FC Cincinnati vs. Atlanta United 2: 5 Things to Know

FC Cincinnati returns to Nippert Saturday night for their eighth regular season match of the 2018 season. This will be the first matchup between these two clubs with Atlanta joining the USL as an expansion side in 2018. Check out our 5 Things to Know for FC Cincinnati’s match against Atlanta United 2 and listen to the most recent March to Matchday podcast.


Where: Cincinnati, OH – Nippert Stadium
When: Saturday, May 5th at 7:00 p.m. EST

2018 Form: FC Cincinnati – 2nd Place (4W-1L-2D, 14 pts.), Atlanta United 2 – 12th Place (1W-2L-3D, 6pts.)

YOUR FAVORITE PEOPLE THIS WEEK – Ref Assignments:
REF: GUIDO GONZALES JR  AR1: CORY RICHARDSON  AR2: BENJAMIN HALL-VOLPENHEIN  4TH: KEVIN FIKAR


March to Matchday Podcast S2E8 – FC Cincinnati vs Atlanta United 2:

Join host Bryan Weigel @bryanweigel, as he previews FC Cincinnati’s eighth USL regular season match of 2018 as FCC host Atlanta United 2. Joining Bryan on this week’s show is guest Taylor Denman (@taylorddenman) of the Gwinnett Daily Post that covers ATL UTD 2. We kick off the show with the audio from our Facebook Live video recapping FC Cincinnati’s 3-2 win over Indy XI. This show will hopefully fit in your drive time to work, to the pub on game day or lead you right up to game time. We hope you enjoy! March to Matchday.


Don’t forget you can now download and subscribe to Cincinnati Soccer Talk on iTunes today! The podcast can also be found on Stitcher Smart Radio now. We’re also available in the Google Play Store.


5 Things to Know

Rotation: Coming off Wednesday’s win at Indy, how can we expect Alan Koch to rotate his squad? Saturday will mark FC Cincinnati’s 3rd of 6 matches is a span of 20 days and it will be important to keep guys fresh and ward off an injury bug. After resting Wednesday, expect to see Richie Ryan, Justin Hoyte, Dekel Keinan, Emmanual Ledesma, Nazmi Albadawi and possibly Lance Liang return to the starting lineup. Saturday might also be the time to give Corben Bone and Forrest Lasso a rest. Bone & Lasso are the only 2 FC Cincinnati players to start every match so far this season with Lasso logging every minute through 7 matches.

Return of Guido:  FC Cincinnati’s favorite *cough, cough* official, Guido Gonzalez Jr. is back at the helm of Saturday’s match. “Guido” as so many passionate fans now refer to the official, is famous….. errrrr… renowned for his performance during last July’s home 3-2 loss against Rochester. During the match, Guido carded FC Cincinnati 8 times while only booking Rochester twice earning the disdain of the Orange & Blue faithful. Three penalty kicks and two ejections were also given out by Gonzalez over the final 12 minutes of the match. The referee’s performance earned calls from FCC & the USL to the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) expressing their displeasure. While FC Cincinnati’s roster has turned over greatly from the starting XI that was on the field in 2017, those on the field will have to keep an eye on Guido in case he gets rattled in front of a large crowd and loses control of the match. With an away match against a strong Charlotte team in the offing next weekend, the Orange & Blue can ill afford to be without some of their top players due to red card suspension.

No Mitchnesses: Many FC Cincinnati fans circled this match on their calendar’s for the return of the US Open Cup hero Mitch Hildebrandt. Hildebrandt left Cincinnati signing with Atlanta United of MLS and many were hoping he might get loaned down for the match. Unfortunately for FCC supporters, Mitch suffered a knee injury in the pre-season and has yet to return to action with either Atlanta squad. Last week Coach Tata Martino said Mitch is still 1-2 weeks away and therefore looks like he will not make the trip to Cincy.

Firepower: For the first time in FC Cincinnati’s history the club has put up 3 or more goals in back to back games. After struggling the first couple of matches offensively, the Orange & Blue have started to kick it into high gear with 8 goals over their last 3. This coincides with the team’s ability to control play through the middle of the pitch and getting higher percentage shots in the box. In the last 5 matches, FC Cincinnati has averaged 10 shots from inside the box after averaging just 4 in the first two contests. I point to the 2nd half against Louisville as the turning point. For the first time, FC Cincinnati was able to get a 2nd attacker into the box to help the lone striker creating more opportunities on goal. With defenses now having to focus on several options, it has freed up space for our central midfielders to control the ball and even rip a longer shot like Corben Bone’s goal from Wednesday.

Young Guns: While this Atlanta side may be the “2” team, it doesn’t mean they don’t have any talent. We can expect ATL2 to bring a couple highly touted youngsters in Andrew Carleton and Chris Goslin on Saturday. At 17 years of age, these two “Homegrown Players” represented the USYNT at the 2017 U-17 World Cup in India. Carleton has made 3 appearances off the bench for the MLS club this season but Atlanta might want to send him to Cincinnati this weekend to get 90 minutes in front of a large “MLS” type crowd. While these two might be earning their stripes with the “2” side this year, we can expect to see them playing in front of 70k at home in Atlanta soon.


Growler Cup – Round 8

Returning for 2018 is our Growler Cup! If you contribute $5/ month or more as a supporter of the site, you are entered into the Growler Cup prediction contest. Supporters of the show along with our hosts will predict the score and result for the upcoming week’s match. We have changed the rules for 2018. You get 3 pts for picking the correct result, 1 pt for correct FCC goals and 1pt for correct opponent goals. There will be many opportunities to win as well in 2018. Along with the overall champion (2017 – Chris Dimeo), fans can get on our show to chat with the staff or partake in a trivia contest by scoring the most amount of points in a given month. You will see the predictions of our staff below. Please consider supporting the site at CincinnatiSoccerTalk.com/Support.

Growler Cup - Round 8

Supporter Groups Pregame Match Parties

We encourage all fans to get down to Clifton early and enjoy themselves at the area’s many restaurants and pubs. Many Supporter Groups hang out in the “Short Vine” area where you can join in the march to Nippert Stadium. Some of these locations can be rowdier than others, but families and opposing fans are encouraged to come out and join the various groups. The Supporters March Should begin at approx. 3:00 p.m.

Die Innenstadt: Mecklenburg Gardens302 E University Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45219
The Pride: Ladder 19 – 2701 Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45219 – Will move to Top Cats – 2820 Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45219
The Pride Norden: Ladder 19 – 2701 Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45219 – Will move to Top Cats – 2820 Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45219
Queen City Firm: Mio’s Pizzeria Pub2634 Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45219
Queen City Mafia:  Short Vine Bearcat Statue Lot – 2700 Block of Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45219
The Legion: Taste of Belgium Clifton – 2845 Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45219
The Bailey Bastards: Hang Over Easy – 3 W Charlton St, Cincinnati, OH 45219

For more information and how to join the supporters march, check out our matchday guide!


Viewing

TV: This contest is set for a 7:00 p.m. EST kickoff on Saturday night. Broadcasting partner Sinclair Broadcasting Group will now air all FC Cincinnati home & away matches. The broadcast duo of Tom Gelehrter and Kevin McCloskey will provide the play-by-play and color analysis to FCC fans live on WSTR Star 64.  Lindsay Patterson will be reporting from the sideline. The match will also be broadcast at FC Cincinnati’s pub partners or by Streaming internet on ESPN+.

RADIO: ESPN 1530 AM

Stay tuned to our Twitter handle – @CincySoccerTalk, for updated information.


@bradleysweigel of @CincySoccerTalk

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