FC Cincinnati will hope that a change of venues can turn their fortunes around as they host Inter Miami on Sunday at their brand new TQL Stadium.
After earning a draw in their opening game, Cincinnati have dropped two in a row, while Miami could not find an answer against Montreal, losing 2-0.
Match preview
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After such a bright opening to the season, things have gone south in a hurry for Jaap Stam and his FC Cincinnati team.
The Dutch coach has seen his side give up plenty of quality scoring opportunities in their opening three games, allowing 28 shots on target and conceding a league-high 10 goals.
Two goals in the first 12 minutes of their regular season is all they have been able to muster offensively so far, going scoreless in their last two fixtures and failing to register a single shot on goal against Orlando.
They were one of the most active clubs over the 2020 off-season and they have remained very busy, signing veteran goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer and bringing in a former two-time MLS All-Star at centre-back, Geoff Cameron.
All their efforts to improve on paper have not translated into results on the pitch, but perhaps the presence of 6,000 screaming fans in a new venue can spark this team, who won only five games at Nippert Stadium.
Miami had a busy off-season themselves. bringing in several high-profile veteran players.
However, like Cincinnati, they have not had much success on the field in the early stages of this season.
Phil Neville will not be pleased with his team's effort on Wednesday as they were completely shut down by a well-organized Montreal squad that allowed only one shot on target.
Scoring opportunities have been few and far between for The Herons so far, as they have had less than 50% of the possession in four of their five matches.
They have struggled to gain possession because they have not put enough pressure on their opponents in the middle of the pitch, allowing over five passes to the opposition per possession, the most of any team in the league.
The Herons will hope that this upcoming two-game road trip can help them regain their confidence, as they face two of the worst teams in MLS in Cincinnati and Chicago.
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Team News
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Cincinnati will be without defender Maikel van der Werff, who is suffering from a groin injury, while Franko Kovacevic has a muscle injury.
The club is still trying to work out the visa situation for Gustavo Vallecilla, who is on loan from the Ecuadorian club Aucas.
Cincy will look to Geoff Cameron to plug the holes of their very leaky defence that have conceded 111 goals since entering Major League Soccer in 2019.
After scoring in his first two games of the regular season, Gonzalo Higuain has been quiet for Miami, while goalkeeper John McCarthy conceded twice despite facing only four shots against Montreal.
Centre-back Leandro Gonzalez had a tough outing on Wednesday as his giveaway led to a second Montreal goal, which put his side behind the eight-ball for the rest of the match.
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Vermeer; Matarrita, Cameron, Hagglund, Gyau; Stanko, Kubo, Mokotjo, Barreal, Brenner; Locadia
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Ulloa, Shawcross, Leerdam, Shea; da Silva, Matuidi; Morgan, Chapman, Pizarro; Higuain
We say: FC Cincinnati 1-3 Inter Miami
Cincy need more than a new stadium to turn their season around, as they have struggled in virtually every statistical category since joining the league.
Miami are struggling as well, but they have been a much more cohesive unit than Cincinnati, who look disorganized and out of sorts to this point of the season.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
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 Inter Miami win with a probability of 50.97%. A draw had a probability of 26.1% and a win for FC Cincinnati had a probability of 22.92%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Miami win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.08%) and 1-2 (9.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.25%), while for a FC Cincinnati win it was 1-0 (8.17%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Inter Miami would win this match.
