With the Leagues Cup now a statistical impossibility, the Orange & Blue move onto greener pastures. Unfortunately, their opponents this weekend also see the grass in Cincinnati’s meadow quite delectable.
FC Cincinnati travel to the Magic City to face Orlando City SC (6-2-10. 20 pts.), a team anxious to turn the wreck around. While Cincinnati have opted to stay quiet during the summer transfer window, Orlando have pushed a massive amount of chips onto the poker table, grabbing one of Europe’s most prestigious players.
FC Cincinnati (7-5-6, 26 pts.) were minutes away from advancing in the Leagues Cup, only for the defending to collapse, losing 2-1 to Atlas to crash out of the tournament. The focus turns to MLS regular season play again, where FCC have won three of their last four. The first of those wins was a suffocating 6-2 victory against Orlando before the World Cup. Evander and Kenji Mboma Dem both claimed braces, while Kevin Denkey and Tom Barlow rounded out the scoring.
ORLANDO CITY SC
Orlando currently has the worst goal differential (-17) in the Eastern Conference, but the promise of recovery has accelerated. The announcement of forward Antoine Griezmann’s free transfer from Atlético Madrid back in March finally materialized in July. The French Designated Player captained his first match Wednesday in Orlando’s 2-2 (5-3) penalty-kick win over San Luis.
So far, Griezmann has been productive in his quick acclimation to the starting lineup. The forward has two goals and one assist in six matches across all competitions. Griezmann has already played 90 full minutes in five of those matches, helping Orlando win four out of six.
Orlando has also brought back a past legend, transferring forward Daryl Dike from West Brom. Dike scored 19 goals in 41 matches for Orlando back in 2020 and 2021 before his sale to West Brom. However, Dike’s hamstring and Achilles-related injuries over his five seasons with West Brom limited him to only 11 goals over 68 matches. The United States national scored his first goal of the season in his first start against San Luis, but Dike may likely come off the bench as he works up to full health.
Attacker Martin Ojeda leads the Orlando squad in scoring with 11 goals, collecting his own brace before the onslaught of Cincinnati’s offense awoke back in May. However, the Argentine midfielder has not played since that match, shelved with a thigh injury.
The defense still remains as Orlando’s major stumbling block. Their 47 goals allowed are the worst in all of MLS. However, Orlando has two clean sheets in their last three MLS matches, including a 1-0 win against conference-leading Nashville SC. The Lions held Nashville to only two shots on target and seven shots total.
Tyrese Spicer was the lone goal scorer in that matchup against Nashville. The left winger has scored three goals and two assists in his past four appearances, a big boost off the bench. His presence could be an X-factor in Saturday’s match.
THE ORANGE AND BLUE
FC Cincinnati will need to quickly ignore another difficult collapse in cup competition. The 1-0 lead against Atlas FC on Tuesday evaporated in minutes, and the 2-1 loss eliminated the Orange & Blue from the Leagues Cup, dooming them to the sidelines.
Earlier this season, FCC took a 3-0 lead to Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, only for a similar 5-4 aggregate collapse to eliminate them.
Leads have been harder to preserve for Cincinnati, but early deficits have been easier to resolve. Cincinnati twice erased deficits against San Jose in their last MLS match to win 4-2 at home.
Evander has been the obvious name keeping the team together. The Brazilian midfielder has held the captain’s armband over the past 13 matches, collecting 12 goals and 11 assists in that span over all competitions. In fact, Evander has produced a goal contribution in his past 11 MLS matches.
While the likes of Kevin Denkey, Tom Barlow, and Kenji Mboma Dem have done well to carry much of the offense, the defense will need to protect the net better. Cincinnati are near the bottom of the league in clean sheets (2) and goals allowed (44). While Orlando have managed two clean sheets since the return from the World Cup break, Cincinnati is still searching—the Orange & Blue have gone eight straight matches giving up two or more goals.
The team will be relatively injury-free, but they will still be without Dado Valenzuela. The midfielder will serve the second in his two-match suspension sustained from a red card against Columbus.
Predicted lineup:
Does Pat Noonan roll with a lineup that resembles the offense from the San Jose win and the defense from the 2-1 win over Pachuca? It appears that some possible answers are in the recent results, but there also may be a need to give the likes of Evander and Pavel Bucha rest along the way.
It’s quite possible Noonan will lean on Samuel Gidi in his LCB role, but it may be possible that Noonan works Andrei Chirila into a spot start when FCC returns to TQL Stadium next week. Chirila played a vital role in both wins in the Leagues Cup group stage.
Orlando rotated a lot of their regular lineup in their match against San Luis, so there is a good possibility Griezmann and Orlando City B prospect Justin Ellis start atop a 4-4-2 formation. The question is whether or not Eduard Atuesta (thigh) and Braian Ojeda (foot) are healthy enough for a start in the midfield. If not, youngsters Luis Otavio or Ignacio Gomez could see a lot of play in the middle.
Match Info
Where: Inter.co Stadium, Orlando, FL
When: Saturday, August 15th at 7:30 p.m.
Watch: Apple+
Listen: ESPN 1530 iHeart Radio w/ Tommy Gelehrter and Kevin McCloskey
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