Toronto and FC Cincinnati square off on Sunday, as both sides look to bounce back after disappointing starts to the Major League Soccer campaign.
Toronto suffered a disappointing defeat to Nashville SC last time out, while their opponents have a platform to build on after a win over 1-0 win over Chicago Fire on Thursday.
Match preview
© Reuters
Toronto come into this game in a run of four consecutive defeats in the MLS, firstly losing 1-0 to Orlando City and 2-1 to Columbus Crew prior to the recent international break.
Chris Armas's side then failed to turn their form around after the break, losing 3-2 to Orlando in their first game back.
They trailed by two goals inside the first 10 minutes, as Tesho Akindele opened the scoring in the first minute before Nani added a second goal seven minutes later, but Toronto would go on to level the game through Ayo Akinola and Jonathan Osorio late in the first half.
The Reds looked set to come away with a point until Junior Urso restored Orlando's lead in the 84th minute to seal a win for the Lions, stretching Toronto's losing run to three matches.
That was again extended on Thursday, as they fell to another 3-2 defeat at the hands of Nashville SC in a dramatic encounter.
Osorio put Armas's side ahead in the first half, and Jack Maher's equaliser was followed by a Patrick Mullins goal to put Toronto back in the lead with 10 minutes to go.
However, Luke Haakenson would immediately equalise before he netted his second of the game deep into added time to seal a 3-2 win and send Armas's men home empty-handed.
That saw them drop to 13th spot in the Eastern Conference, now sitting eight points off the playoff places, and they will be desperate to quickly make a return to winning ways to begin climbing the table.
Their opponents will hope to build on their victory last time out, which saw them move ahead of the Reds in the Conference table.
© Reuters
FC Cincinnati travelled to take on Chicago Fire on Thursday and came away with a crucial win thanks to Alvaro Barreal's goal early in the second half.
That was just their second victory of the season and saw them leapfrog both Chicago and Toronto to move off the foot of the division and up to 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
After finishing bottom of their division last season, Jaap Stam's side will be hopeful of an improved campaign this year, with a chance to leapfrog Inter Miami with a victory, while keeping a game in hand, depending on other results at the weekend.
They will aim to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season, and will feel they have a good chance against a Toronto side in a poor run of form.
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Toronto remain without several key players, as Erickson Gallardo is out of action with a groin injury, while dangerous winger Yeferson Soteldo is away on international duty with Venezuela at the Copa America.
Forward Ifunanyachi Achara is also unavailable as he continues to battle with a long-term injury.
Their attacking options recently took a further hit, as experienced goalscorer Jozy Altidore's relations with the club soured, leading to him being separated from the rest of the Reds squad.
FC Cincinnati will remain without centre-back Maikel van der Werff, who is yet to feature this season through injury.
Despite only netting one goal so far this campaign, exciting Brazilian forward Brenner will continue to lead the line, supported by the wide threat of Alvaro Barreal and Isaac Atanga.
Key man Luciano Acosta will again line up in midfield three alongside Allan Cruz and Yuya Kubo.
Meanwhile, the back four of Joe Gyau, Geoff Cameron, Gustavo Vallecilla and Ronald Matarrita should remain unchanged after a solid clean sheet last time out.
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Westberg; Auro, Zavaleta, Mavinga, Lawrence; Delgado, Bradley; Osorio, Pozuelo, Laryea; Akinola
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Vermeer; Gyau, Cameron, Vallecilla, Matarrita; Acosta, Cruz, Kubo; Barreal, Brenner, Atanga
We say: Toronto 1-1 FC Cincinnati
Both sides should see this game as a great opportunity to record a much-needed win, and we see them sharing the points on this occasion.
While Toronto may boast more quality in their squad, several key absentees have hit them hard, yet we still see them breaking their losing run against a fairly weak Cincinnati side, despite their victory last time out.
Top tip
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 Toronto win with a probability of 55.86%. A draw had a probability of 23.3% and a win for FC Cincinnati had a probability of 20.81%.
The most likely scoreline for a Toronto win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.29%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.99%) and 2-1 (9.81%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.09%), while for a FC Cincinnati win it was 0-1 (6.27%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 3.1% likelihood.
