FC Cincinnati will look to right the ship after suffering two straight losses when Orlando City SC comes to TQL Stadium on Saturday night.
FCC comes into the match on a bit of a cold streak, having lost its last two matches and four of its last eight, one of those being the Leagues Cup loss to the Philadelphia Union.
In all but one game, FCC has failed to score more than two goals, and this has coincided with the backline having allowed at least two goals in all but three of those matches.
In these last few matches, the defense has been less connected than it needs to be, which makes sense considering the revolving door at the position and all of the different lineups Pat Noonan has needed to play. It’s astonishing that the defense has been able to hold up as much as it has considering the circumstances.
However, the defensive struggles have come at the same time that the offense has struggled to score goals. Thankfully, Luca Orellano has given the team multiple goals from the free-kick spot and extremely long-range, but Lucho Acosta is absolutely still feeling his injury from earlier in the season, hurting his productivity.
The Opposition
FCC will be going up against Orlando City SC, the team most closely behind them in the Eastern Conference standings. Orlando City SC is currently fourth in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 14-7-11. Orlando has also scored 55 goals on the season, the exact same as FCC, and has allowed 47, only three more than FCC, so the two are shockingly similar.
However, Orlando is going in the opposite direction in terms of form. The visiting side has won five of its last six matches, with the only loss coming against the Columbus Crew by a 4-3 scoreline. In all of those games, Orlando has scored at least twice, so FCC will need to be ready and composed defensively.
The main scorer for Orlando this season has been Facundo Torres, who has 14 goals, but they also have Duncan McGuire at their disposal as well, who’s on 10 goals for the season. Those two will be the main players FCC will need to be aware of during the match.
Orlando also has multiple players with over 10 assists on the season, as Martín Ojeda and Nicolás Lodeiro both have 10. The FCC defense will need to know where those two players are at all times because their distribution will be key to Orlando’s attack.