FC Cincinnati have an opportunity to win three consecutive matches for the first time in franchise history when they battle the newest club in Major League Soccer, Charlotte FC, on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium.
Charlotte claimed their first ever MLS victory last week, beating the New England Revolution 3-1, while The Orange-and-Blue disposed of Inter Miami by that same score.
Match preview
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The crowd was considerably smaller than the one we saw in their home opener, but the result was historic, as the 28th team in MLS picked up their first victory last weekend.
To claim your first points against the reigning Supporters' Shield winners had to have felt pretty extraordinary for this side, who are showing a lot of promise in their early days.
As a team, it seems as though there is still work to do for them to consistently compete with the big clubs in this league, but it does appear as though they have a solid goalkeeper and some excellent pressing attackers who can keep them afloat for the time being.
After a heartbreaking defeat to Atlanta United in which they conceded the winner deep into injury time, Miguel Angel Ramirez called on his players for a response last Saturday, and he got it early on as his squad took the lead six minutes into that contest.
While their forwards have done a terrific job of keeping opposing defences on their heels, the service to their front players needs a little bit of work, as the vision and passing of their midfielders has not always been on the mark.
Switching to a more traditional 4-4-2 suited CLTFC quite well, as they showed a lot more balance all over the field while doing a decent job at preventing a potent Revs side from getting into dangerous scoring positions.
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The season is still young, but if you are a fan of FC Cincinnati, you have to be encouraged with the way this group have responded following an early setback.
When they dropped their opener 5-0 to Austin FC, plenty of people thought this would be the beginning of another disappointing campaign for this franchise, who had only won 10 of their 91 regular season affairs heading into this year.
While it was hardly the start Pat Noonan had hoped for when he took this job, the former assistant with the Philadelphia Union has been able to instil some belief into this side, who struggled mightily in their first three MLS campaigns.
Even though Cincy have had some standout individual performances, we saw a total team effort from this side a week ago, conceding only two shots on target at home to The Herons, while looking dangerous on the counter.
Last Saturday, The Orange-and-Blue had a solid defensive posture, looking composed at the back and a lot sharper in front of goalkeeper Alec Kann for the first time all year.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about this group so far this year, has been the effort we are seeing from all 10 on-field players, who are doing an excellent job of coming back to cover space, a definite trouble spot for them last season when they conceded 74 goals.
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Team News
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Karol Swiderski was the man of the hour for Charlotte last weekend as he scored the opener and then notched the winner three minutes after Carles Gil had levelled the match from the penalty spot, while Ben Bender fired home the insurance marker and assisted on the winning goal.
Vinicius Mello remains out after undergoing left foot surgery, Chris Hegardt is doubtful with a left knee injury and Yordy Reyna will be a question mark with a right thigh problem.
Jordy Alcivar and Alan Franco each picked up an assist in their victory last week, while goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina has faced 19 shots in his previous three games and stopped 15 of them.
Neither Franco, Christian Makoun, nor Swiderski will be available this weekend, as they are all on international duty for Ecuador, Venezuela and Poland respectively.
Cincinnati striker Brandon Vazquez is off to an excellent start to the season, scoring a brace for a second successive fixture, putting him in a tie for first in goals in MLS (four) alongside Carlos Vela and Lucas Zelarayan.
Luciano Acosta leads the league in key passes with 16, Yuya Kubo is third in tackles won (11) and Ronald Matarrita had a pair of assists last week for the second time in his FCC career.
Ray Gaddis is questionable with a groin issue, John Nelson has not recovered from his back problem, Allan Cruz is attending to a personal family matter and Gustavo Vallecilla may not be ready to go in this one because of a leg injury.
Matarrita will miss this encounter, as he was called up to the Costa Rica national team who are looking to claim a spot in the upcoming World Cup.
Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:
Kahlina; Lindsey, Corujo, Armour, Fuchs; Ruiz, Bronico, Jones, Bender; Gaines, Rios
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Kann; Hagglund, Cameron, Blackett; Powell, Kubo, Medunjanin, Harris; Acosta; Badji, Vazquez
We say: Charlotte FC 1-2 FC Cincinnati
Given all of the emotional highs that Charlotte experienced a week ago, it could lead to a bit of a letdown for them on Saturday, as they face a side in good form with a dangerous striker making the most of his opportunities in front of goal.
The crowd should give the home team a boost, but without Swiderski and a midfield struggling to find much creativity, we expect to see the Orange-and-Blue to expose some cracks in this expansion side.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a FC Cincinnati win with a probability of 40.66%. A win for Charlotte FC had a probability of 32.48% and a draw had a probability of 26.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Cincinnati win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.53%) and 0-2 (7.32%). The likeliest Charlotte FC win was 1-0 (9.53%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.75%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 5.6% likelihood.
