After a 10-day break from action and a month-long break from league play, FC Cincinnati return to action for the final nine games of the regular season starting on Saturday when they visit Inter Miami CF in a matchup of the two top teams in the Eastern Conference.
The final stretch of MLS play for The Orange and Blue is filled with challenges, but each game comes one at a time. FCC, though, can kickstart the second half of the season in the right way with a strong performance that could help fuel things going forward.
"The significance of a result is certainly important when you look at the end of the season and trying to be at home in the playoffs," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said ahead of the match. “So right now, we’re five points behind and trying to close that gap. So it'll certainly be challenging to catch them if we don't get a result. And that's our goal, to think about this game and think about how we can get a result against a very good team."
Noonan will notably not be available for the match after MLS chose to further suspend the 2023 MLS Coach of the Year for his Red Card offense prior to the Leagues Cup break. Noonan had already served a one-match suspension when the team went to New York Red Bulls and will ?finish his suspension sitting out this match but he assured that – like in the past – things would play out as normally as possible.
"It's never enjoyable not being on the sideline. I've experienced that now once (this season), and I didn't enjoy it. But, you know, I have obviously a lot of trust and faith in our guys to go and get the job done, both staff and players. So, we know what it looks like, and we'll stick to the same routine."
Of the changes FC Cincinnati have seen since the last time they played in a regular season match are two notable additions during the secondary transfer window. Chidozie Awaziem, who has been with the club for some time now and made his club debut in Leagues Cup, will be making his MLS debut on Saturday should he be selected, and deadline day pickup Niko Gioacchini (on loan from Como 1907 in Italy's Serie A) could make his FC Cincinnati debut as he has been training with the club for about a week now.
"When you're giving new players in a new environment information, how do they look to apply that immediately? And smart players, I think, can figure those things out and take that information and maybe put aside previous habits or playing styles and adjust and be open to new things and then ask the right questions. So that's kind of what we've seen, you know, in this short time that we've been working together," Noonan elaborated on Gioacchini.
The last time these two teams met, FC Cincinnati had the better night, winning 6-1. Noonan highlighted in his availability that while he hopes the same qualities in their principals shine through again, the personnel differences from this game to the last make the preparation for this match unique in its own way.
"It'll look, what we anticipate, completely different than our last matchup," Noonan explained. "You know, I looked at the potential starting group. There's six guys that could be on the field…that weren't on the field (last time). And you look at the pieces that have been contributing all season, and more recently with [Jordi] Alba back, with [Luis] Suarez back, you know, the level that they're at and the way that they produce for them is still at a very high level. [Diego] Gómez wasn't on the field to start the last matchup, [Matías] Rojas, [David] Martinez, potentially [Tomás] Avilés, so you're looking at a totally different game in terms of personnel. But right now, they have very good depth. They have so many options to put out on the field, and you know that means that they're going to have strong players coming off the bench to help impact the game. So it'll be a really good challenge for us."
FC Cincinnati at Inter Miami CF – Saturday August 24, 2024 – 7:30 p.m. ET – Chase Stadium
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
TV Talent (English, Apple): Steve Cangialosi (PxP), Danny Higginbotham (Analyst)
TV Talent (Spanish, Apple): Bruno Vain (PXP), Andres Agulla (Analysis)
Radio (English): ESPN 1530
Radio (Spanish): La Mega 97.7 FM
Radio Talent (English): Tom Gelehrter (PXP), Jimmy McClaughlin (Analyst)
Radio Talent: (Spanish): Gustavo Luques (PXP), José Romero (Analyst)
All-time vs Inter Miami CF
FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami CF have been largely at the center of the MLS universe since the beginning of the 2023 season. They have met each other at multiple stages, with massive clashes at each occurrence.
The last time these two clubs met was just before the Leagues Cup break when Inter Miami CF visited FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium on July 6 when The Orange and Blue dominated The Herrons to the tune of a 6-1 victory thanks to a Yuya Kubo brace and a Luciano Acosta goal + three assists. FC Cincinnati last went to Miami at the end of 2023. It defeated IMCF 1-0 on an ÁlvaroBarreal goal to eliminate the surging Miami squad from 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs contention.
All-time, across all competitions, the series between these clubs is deadlocked at 4-4-2 after FCC's 6-1 win earlier this season. FC Cincinnati's win at Inter Miami CF last season was also the first away win in the series. In MLS play, the last time FC Cincinnati outright lost to Inter Miami was October 23, 2021.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Back to the grind – FC Cincinnati resume MLS play following Leagues Cup. Nine matches remain for the club in the MLS Regular Season. Six of the nine remaining opponents enter Matchday 29 above the MLS Cup Playoff line.
Road Warriors – FC Cincinnati lost their last road match at New York Red Bulls on July 20, 3-1. That loss snapped a seven-match road winning streak, which is tied for the longest road win streak in MLS history. Despite the loss, FC Cincinnati look to continue to cement themselves as a top road team in league history. At 9 road wins, 28 road points and a .792 road win percentage, FCC can reach the all-time league-bests in the category (13 road wins, 37 road points and .813 road win percentage).
DeANDRE vs HIS OLD SIDE - On Monday, March 4, FC Cincinnati acquired DeAndre Yedlin from Inter Miami CF via trade in exchange for $172,799 in 2024 General Allocation Money (GAM). Yedlin made 82 appearances over three seasons, across all competitions, with Miami and started in the Leagues Cup 2023 Final at Nashville SC, Miami’s first trophy.
Fun in the Sun(shine state) – Since the start of 2022, FC Cincinnati have fared well in road matches at Inter Miami CF and Orlando City SC. The club is unbeaten in Florida under Head Coach Pat Noonan in Florida at 3-0-2. That includes a win earlier this season at Orlando and last October’s 1-0 win in the last matchup away to Inter Miami.
300 on the Horizon – FC Cincinnati have scored 294 goals, across all competitions, since joining Major League Soccer in 2019. 59 of those goals have come so far in 2024.
Scouting Inter Miami CF (16-4-5, 53 points, 1st in Eastern Conference, 1st in Supporters’ Shield, W-W-L-W-W)
The Inter Miami CF Leagues Cup run came to an end the same night FC Cincinnati's did, meaning these two clubs meet after an identical amount of time off and will in some ways have the result factored in by how they handled the just over week-long break. In the Round of 16, Inter Miami took a 2-0 lead over Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field thanks to goals from Miguel Rojas and Diego Gómez, but ultimately fell 3-2 and bowed out there.
Compared to their last match with FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami CF will have a more complete roster available for their disposable with international tournaments over and suspensions served by many. Most notably, Uruguay striker Luis Suárez has returned from the Copa America and is expected to be featured in the return to regular season play. Suárez, 37, scored twice in three appearances (all starts) during Leagues Cup 2024. Also of note, midfielder Diego Gómezand defender Jordi Alba, who were both unavailable due to suspension in the last meeting of these two clubs, are back and available for the match, bolstering the lineup significantly.
Famed Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets (who received a Red Card in the previous meeting) has also served his suspension and is available again. Busquets has been used regularly as a center back as Inter Miami CF looks to bolster its defense. He was used as such in not only the last meeting between FCC and IMCF but in every match since that Busquets has featured in.
Recently, Miami Head Coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino has deployed a 5-3-2 formation with Busquets at the center of that backline and Tomas Avilés and Noah Allen on his left and right. However, when push has come to shove, sending more players forward to resemble a 3-1-4-2 formation has been a common option to finish games.
Inter Miami CF has become one of the more well-known clubs in MLS. Several star players are available for selection, some of whom similarly got managed minutes over the Leagues Cup as they looked to prepare for the stretch run of the MLS season and the MLS Cup Playoffs. Some players, like Julian Gressel, Leo Campana, and Robert Taylor, all featured in the tournament but did not start all the matches, speaking to the depth of the roster.
And, of course, most notably, the status of attacking midfielder Lionel Messi is still unknown as the Argentine attacker has been absent from the lineup for his club since suffering an injury in the Copa Américafinal. Messi was most recently not selected for the Argentine squad (announced earlier this week) for the next international window. Though this does not confirm anything about his health, it indicates he is not available for selection. Messi has not been seen at team training since the injury, though most recent reports suggest he has begun some degree of work at the team facility.
Miami has been one of the most dominant teams in MLS offensively this season, scoring a league-high 56 goals in 25 matches. However, the Herons have been susceptible to other strong attacking sides, as they've conceded 39 goals against, the most of any club in the top six of the Supporters' Shield table entering the match.
