FC Cincinnati will hop a Greyhound bus up the Hudson River Line and are set to play New York City Football Club for a midweek matchup, looking to get their mojo back. Well, actually, given scheduling constraints, they will be flying (as per normal) and playing at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, for what could be a preview of a potential playoff matchup.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 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. The last time FCC took on NYCFC, The Orange and Blue came back and scored four goals in the final 11 minutes and won 4-2 in group play of Leagues Cup. Let’s look at some important figures that may factor into this midweek match, all presented by CTI.
3x10
FC Cincinnati is one of two MLS clubs with a trio of goal-scorers who have eclipsed the 10-goal mark in league play this season. Luciano Acosta, Yuya Kubo and Luca Orellano have all registered 10 or more goals this season, marking the second time in club history the team has had three double-digit scorers (2022). LA Galaxy is the only club with four players in double digits this season.
360
FC Cincinnati has suffered 360 fouls this season, the fifth most in the Eastern Conference but 11th most in MLS. Last season, FCC was fouled 429 times, fourth most in the league as a whole. NYCFC this season is one of the four clubs ahead of FCC in this category, being fouled 375 times.
NYCFC is also just inches out of FC Cincinnati in the fouls committed category, as The Orange and Blue have committed 403 to New York 399.
39 for 39
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.This means that Pat Noonan has had to deploy 39 unique setups in 39 different games.
38
Luca Orellano has been an offensive dynamo this season for FC Cincinnati, appearing in 30 of 31 matches this season and scoring 10 goals. With Luciano Acosta missing some time due to injury, Orellano stepped in to be the lead offensive threat by taking a team-high 81 shots and putting 38 on target. Orellano is ninth in MLS this season in shots on target and has been one of the most prolific scorers from distance by scoring his 10 goals on just a collective 6.12xG this season.
The Argentine wingback, who has shifted up to attacking midfielder when needed, has also added seven assists this season to total 17 goal contributions in 30 appearances.
84
Miles Robinson leads the FC Cincinnati back line in just about every counting stat available, but in this case, leads all FCC players with 84 earlier duels won with a win rate of 76.2 percent. Robinson also leads the eligible club players with 32 clearances (Matt Miazga leads still of all players but has been placed on the season ending injury list) and leads outfield players with 48 accurate long ball passes.
Robinson this season has tallied 1198 completed passes this season for an 88.7 percent completion rate. With those 1198 passes, he ranks third most on FCC behind only Pavel Bucha and Ian Murphy in completions.
91.1
Pavel Bucha leads the team in passing accuracy this season, completing a staggering 91.1 percent of his passes in over 2600 minutes of play. Bucha has also provided four goals and five assists in addition to his 19 key passes, which tracks the number of passes that directly leads to a shot.
While newer to the squad, Chidozie Awaziem is giving Bucha a run for his money in the top passer department. The lethal defender has successfully completed 90.3 percent of his passes in his six MLS matches and has already provided two assists from the backline.
