FC Cincinnati is going on a road trip to a new destination: San Diego. It is a meeting between two sides who are in a near identical position to begin the season.
THE AZULES
San Diego FC has gone through the same sophomore slump that numerous successful year-one expansion clubs face.
San Diego did not make any big splashes in the transfer market, deciding to convert last season’s loan to permanent transfers. Their one move in the European market was the acquisition of young, 6’3” CB Osvald Soe from the Danish 1.Division.
The Azules have the exact same record as the visitors, with 4 wins, 4 draws, and 5 losses. Due to the West being a more quality conference than the East, that has put them at 10th in the table. Despite that, they are well within reach of raising a few places.
They still average a lion’s share of possession, and scoring around 2 goals. The real discrepancies have been on the defensive end, where they are conceding 1.54 goals per match. Those kinds of numbers have kept one of the best frontlines in the West from actually winning more matches.
Prior to their last match, San Diego were on a deep slide in the league, winless in their last nine. But that streak was snapped with a 5-0 rout in their midweek meeting with Austin FC. Three of the goals scored by the young midfield duo of Pedro Soma and David Vazquez. Anders Dryer and Marcus Ingvartsen also found their way onto the scoresheet.
That many goals scored, and a clean sheet to boot, is enough to make the Azules forget about their recent form. They will be ready to do the same in front of an electric crowd.
THE ORANGE & BLUE
For a brief time, the Orange and Blue’s defense did not look as dismal. But each time a temporary solution is found for them, it eventually gets exposed as paper over deep cracks. The recent setup has unlocked the frontline even more, but that does not matter if every match turns into a shootout.
Their midweek match against Miami was just like this, and ended with a defensive collapse: three goals conceded in the final eleven minutes with the match ending 5-3 to Miami. Leo Messi scored a brace off of poaching around the box, which was matched with a goal apiece from two of his Argentinian counterparts, Mateo Silvetti and German Berterame. The final goal was courtesy of a Roman Celentano own goal. On the offensive end, Kevin Denkey added to his impressive tally, Pavel Bucha found the net, and Evander kept his hot streak going.
The defense has kept just a single clean sheet since February, in the 2-0 win at home against the Red Bulls. Aside from that, they have conceded 11 goals in their previous 5 matches, which is somehow slightly better than what they had been averaging. Among the entire league, only Orlando and Kansas City have a higher amount of concessions than FCC.
Ironically, those second-worst defensive numbers in the conference have been alleviated by the second-best offensive numbers. That strength up top could be enough to see FCC past San Diego, as Kevin Denkey and Evander are finally in top form at the same time, Kenji Mboma-Dem has proven himself as a viable strike partner, and Dado Valenzuela has found a role as a box crasher.
The focus now will be to minimize the in-form San Diego attack, while not sabotaging the rest of the team’s ball movement by going with an overly defensive back three. Andrei Chirila will not be in the match this weekend due to being in the concussion protocol, so FCC will need to find another way to move the ball out of the defensive end.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Cincinnati’s player to watch is Pavel Bucha. His recent role as a right wing-back has created a real outlet out wide, which has been a major help for the club in-possession. And it has even brought with it some end product, with a goal and an assist in his previous two starts.
San Diego’s player to watch is Anders Dreyer. Since the beginning of their inaugural campaign, he is the most consistent player in the league not named Lionel Messi. He has already racked up 6 goals and 5 assists on the young season. He will be a problem for the opposing defense.
PREDICTED LINEUP:
MATCH INFO
WHERE: Snapdragon Stadium
WHEN: 9:30 PM
WATCH: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+
LISTEN: ESPN 1530 iHeart Radio w/ Tommy Gelehrter and Kevin McCloskey
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