FC Cincinnati heads out for a busy week on the road, first jetting off to Allianz Field in the Twin Cities for a matchup with Minnesota United FC on Wednesday night.
Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET, and fans can watch the game on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and listen locally in English on ESPN 1530 and 97.7 FM La Mega in Spanish. In the last trip to Minnesota, FC Cincinnati earned a victory in the final moments. For this trip, let's look at some key numbers surrounding this match, all presented by CTI.
2
FC Cincinnati is going for the season sweep of Western Conference opponents when playing on the road after already defeating FC Dallas and San Jose Earthquakes in their home stadiums earlier this season. FCC defeated Minnesota United FC in the last trip to the North Star state, taking down Minnesota 2-1 on a stoppage-time goal from Brandon Vazquez in 2021.
Under Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati is 5-2-1 against Western Conference opponents on the road.
150/100/99
Several key milestones are upcoming for FC Cincinnati, as members of The Orange and Blue could reach key marks in their careers.
Alvas Powell was the first to reach a key milestone this week, making his 100th appearance for FC Cincinnati on Saturday during Hell is Real in an important draw. Shortly behind him would be defender Ian Murphy, who (should he appear Wednesday) would make his 100th cap with the club. Both Roman Celentano and Obinna Nwobodo would make their 99th appearances for The Orange and Blue setting them up to reach the century mark on Saturday against Nashville SC.
The highest mark of the group would be Yuya Kubo, who would make his all-time club-leading 150th appearance on Wednesday night. The journeyman utility player continues his breakout year in his fifth season with the club.
0 (but also 5)
FC Cincinnati have had a turbulent season in 2024 and have successfully navigated availability issues to this point to the degree of entering the matchday Wednesday in second place in the Eastern Conference. To this point in 2024, FC Cincinnati have not repeated starting lineups with the same players in the same position or same formation, creating problems with finding rhythms and relationships in some key places where new players are now being integrated into. Additionally, only five times have the same five backline defenders been repeated in a starting XI.
Pat Noonan highlighted consistency in player availability as a key to success down the stretch this season. Part of that begins with availability from injury and suspension and entering this Minnesota match. Noonan highlighted that this may be the most available the team as a whole has been in a very long time.
3
FC Cincinnati is going for the season sweep of Western Conference opponents when playing on the road this season after already defeating FC Dallas and San Jose Earthquakes in their home stadiums earlier this season. FCC defeated Minnesota United FC in the last trip to the North Star state, taking down Minnesota 2-1 on a stoppage time goal from Brandon Vazquez in 2021.
Under Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati is 5-2-1 against Western Conference opponents on the road.
85/18
No one has been more productive and effective at driving offensive play in MLS this season than Luciano Acosta. The reigning MLS MVP leads the league with 85 key passes, defined as any pass leading to a shot attempt from a teammate. This makes it no surprise that Acosta also leads MLS with 18 assists despite being absent from the starting lineup for over two months.
11,832
While Minnesota advertises itself as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," according to the most recent land survey, there are actually 11,832 lakes in the Gopher State. These lakes account for over 14,000 bodies of water in other capacities. Additionally, there are over 15,000 lake basins, though over 3000 of them are now dry.
