FC Cincinnati will look to end the regular season in style when the team hosts Atlanta United FC on Saturday night.
When last we saw FCC, it was nearly two weeks ago from this article’s release. FCC traveled to Miami to face off against Inter Miami CF and won 1-0. This win not only came after a matchup that both teams could have won but it also formally eliminated Miami, and Lionel Messi, from the MLS Cup Playoffs.
After that, multiple FCC players went on international break, such as Santiago Arias, Junior Moreno, Yerson Mosquera and Aaron Boupendza. According to Laurel Pfahler on Twitter, Boupendza will be available on Saturday, while Arias will not following picking up a knock. She also said that Moreno and Mosquera did not fully practice on Thursday.
I would be surprised if FCC and Pat Noonan don’t bring the full might of the squad to start the match. The team will have already had two weeks away from full-match speed and will have another long break due to their prime seeding in the upcoming playoffs.
This team needs some time together to get back some chemistry and this matchup against Atlanta would be a great time for it.
The Opposition
In its last regular season game of the season, FCC will be facing off against Atlanta United FC. Atlanta is currently sixth on the Eastern Conference table, with a record of 13-9-11. So far this season, Atlanta has scored 64 goals and allowed 51, compared to FCC’s 55 and 37, respectively.
That tally of 64 goals on the season is second in all of Major League Soccer, only behind offensive powerhouse Columbus Crew SC with 65. Atlanta has players all around the field who can score at will.
The two players on the pitch that FCC will need to worry about the most are Georgios Giakoumakis and Thiago Almada. Giakoumakis has 15 goals on the season, which is tied for third in the whole league for most goals behind Dennis Bouanga of LAFC and Lucho Acosta of our own FCC. Giakoumakis is tied with Cucho Hernandez, Hany Mukhtar and Brian White.
Thiago Almada is no slouch either, as he has scored 11 times this season. However, where Almada has shined is in the assists. He has 17 assists on the season, which is tops in the league, two more than the person in second place. Almada will move the ball around better than anyone FCC has played this season and will be a great chemistry test in its last match of the regular season.
When FCC played Atlanta only a short couple of months ago, FCC won by the slimmest of margins, as two goals in the late stage of the match saw FCC steal all three points. Atlanta scored in the beginning of the match but wasn’t able to tally anymore, as FCC went on to win 2-1. I’d be shocked if FCC was able to hold the well-oiled machine of Atlanta United to one goal again. This will be a great test for the defense.
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