In what will be their second of three straight MLS home fixtures, New York City FC return to Yankee Stadium for the first time since early April, battling FC Cincinnati on Wednesday.
The Pigeons come into this encounter winless in their last six competitive matches, losing 3-1 at home to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, while Cincy now have a five-point lead in the Supporters' Shield standings following a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
Match preview
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A pair of defensive lapses late in the opening half versus Philly was all it took for NYCFC to lose control of that match, as they suffered their first-ever regular-season defeat at Citi Field.
Following the loss, Nick Cushing said his young team need to learn from these moments as they were on the front foot of that match for 40+ minutes before conceding twice in first-half stoppage time and losing for the first time all season when opening the scoring.
The Boys in Blue have had plenty of success at Citi Field, but they have been equally strong at Yankee Stadium, claiming at least a point in 11 successive regular season outings in the Bronx, winning two of their three matches played there in 2023.
With just one point from their last five league fixtures, it matches their longest winless run in this competition since Cushing took charge last June, while they have not suffered consecutive regular-season defeats in New York City since 2015 (two) which was their first year in MLS.
New York have never lost a regular-season home fixture versus the Orange and Blue, winning their only two meetings against them at Yankee Stadium by a combined score of 10-2.
After 14 matches, NYCFC have only picked up 16 points, the second-fewest for the Pigeons at this stage of a regular season (11 from 14 games in 2015).
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Unbeaten in nine successive matches in all competitions, FC Cincinnati are the team to beat in MLS right now, suffering just one domestic defeat all year, and dropping points on only four occasions.
Their victory against the Rapids on Saturday put them up to 33 points for the season, as they became just the fifth team in league history to reach that mark after 14 games and the first since the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2010, doing so with a goal differential of +8.
In 2022, this club set franchise records in virtually every category imaginable, but a victory on Wednesday would be their fifth in succession, which would eclipse their previous record from a year ago.
The dark days of Major League Soccer in Cincinnati, which saw this club finish dead-last in their first three domestic campaigns, appears to be long gone, as the Orange and Blue have only lost three of its last 34 regular-season fixtures under Pat Noonan.
Nine of their 14 goals conceded in league play have come away from home, with eight occurring in just two matches (a 5-1 loss at St Louis City and a 3-3 draw versus the Chicago Fire).
Although Cincinnati have never won a road contest versus NYCFC, they are unbeaten in their last three matches in all competitions against the Boys in Blue, knocking them out of the US Open Cup at the beginning of May (1-0).
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Team News
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Matias Pellegrini and Alfredo Morales each sat out over the weekend for New York City with lower body injuries, Mitja Ilenic was a late omission, having suffered a knock in the warm-ups as he was replaced by Tayvon Gray, while Thiago Martins was taken off just a few minutes into the second half and might not be available on Wednesday.
Gabriel Pereira had the only goal for the Pigeons on Saturday, moving into a tie for the team lead with Santiago Rodriguez, while Luis Barraza conceded multiple goals at home for just the second time in the regular season.
Braian Cufre saw the field for the first time since playing the full 90 minutes at home to Dallas, and Tony Alfaro made his first regular-season appearance for the Boys in Blue, replacing Martins shortly after Daniel Gazdag had given the Union a 3-1 lead.
Sergio Santos is listed as questionable for Cincinnati because of a sore groin, Arquimides Ordonez is on international duty for the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina, while Brenner, who is soon to depart for Udinese in Serie A, has been nursing an ankle injury.
Dominique Badji notched the only goal in their weekend triumph against the Burgundy Boys, the 39th of his MLS career, Roman Celentano collected his seventh clean sheet, putting him one back of Stefan Frei for the league lead, while Luciano Acosta picked up his 200th regular season cap.
Brandon Vazquez had the only goal when Cincy knocked the Boys in Blue out of the US Open Cup as backup goalkeeper Alec Kann collected a shutout in that encounter.
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Barraza; Gray, Alfaro, Chanot, Cufre; Sands, Parks; Pereira, Rodriguez, Ledezma; Segal
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Celentano; Mosquera, Miazga, Murphy; Powell, Nwobodo, Kubo, Barreal; Acosta; Santos, Vazquez
We say: New York City FC 2-1 FC Cincinnati
The Pigeons have not been as poor as their record indicates but have been guilty of a few mental errors, which we believe they will correct come Wednesday.
Cincinnati have been grinding out their share of results, and given they have a similar approach to the Union, we believe New York will have a slight advantage, having played Philly just days ago.
How to watch
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
