Los Angeles Football Club comes to Cincinnati on Saturday in a game that has been billed as a potential MLS Cup preview. Both squads have spent most of the season near the top of their respective conferences, but both enter hoping they can find answers for the end of the season.
An opponent who has won the last two Western Conference playoffs and just won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, one would not expect them to be looking for answers. However, LAFC enters with a 0-3-2 record since the All-Star Break and has slipped from first in the West to fourth, sitting just three points ahead of seventh place.
FC Cincinnati likewise has not been the immovable force they were in 2023. With four games left in the season, Pat Noonan has yet to pick the same starting line up this season, and there are still questions about who is in the best starting eleven for the squad. Obviously, injuries have been a major factor for the 2023 Supporters Shield winners, with Matt Miazga and Nick Hagglund having suffered season-ending injuries.
Even this game could see lineup changes, as free agent signing Teenage Hedebe will finally have enough practice time to be able to prove if he is a starting center back for the Orange and Blue.
While falling this far down the rankings is a surprise for LAFC, there is hope their stars will be able to right the ship in time for the playoffs.
Coming into the season, there were talks of LAFC having big ambitions of bringing over European stars, and they have delivered. They brought in long-time Tottenham Hotspurs and French National Team goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in the winter. And in the summer, they coaxed French teammate and striker Olivier Giroud into coming to join them.
Although neither has been a game wrecker in MLS, they haven’t needed to, as LAFC has been led by MVP candidate Denis Bouanga.
Returning after a successful 2023, Bouanga has been even more impactful in 2024. The Gabonese left winger has been a one-man wrecking crew on transition breaks all season and, at times, has dragged a defensive-minded set up to be an attacking juggernaut.
Entering Saturday, he has 17G and 10A, sitting fourth in MLS for total goal contributions behind Portland’s Evander, Miami’s Lionel Messi and FCC’s own Lucho Acosta. While the MVP race may not be won on Saturday, a breakout game by either Bouanga or Acosta could certainly set a narrative that leads them to being the front-runner for the award at the end of the season.
Where: TQL Stadium, Cincinnati
When: Sept. 28, 7:30 PM EST
How to Watch: MLS Season Pass on AppleTV+
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