Afghanistan
Angola
Argentina
Asia (AFC)
Asian Games
Australia
Belgium-Netherlands
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Central American & Caribbean Games
Central American Games
Congo DR
Denmark
England
Europe (UEFA)
FYR Macedonia
Finland
Germany
Greece
International Tournaments
Italy
Mediterranean Games
Mexico
National
Nepal
North & Central America (Concacaf)
Palestine
Pan American Games
Panama
Russia
Scandinavia
Serbia And Montenegro
South American Games
Spain
Syria
USA
Venezuela
World (FIFA)
Yemen
Zimbabwe

Preview: DC United vs. FC Cincinnati - prediction, team news, lineups

sportsmole.co.uk, 22 June 2023, 07:45
Runaway MLS leaders FC Cincinnati seek a 14th win from 19 games in the 2023 campaign when they venture to Audi Field for a date with DC United on Saturday.

The visitors returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion last time out with a 3-0 beating of Toronto, while Wayne Rooney's men were put to the sword 2-1 by Real Salt Lake.

Match preview

Losing captain Steve Birnbaum to a 26th-minute red card meant that DC United were always going to be fighting a losing battle to keep Salt Lake at bay last weekend, and Pablo Mastroeni's men appropriately rubbed salt into the wounds against their 10-man hosts.

Strikes from Pablo Ruiz and Danny Musovski either side of the half-time whistle gave Real Salt Lake a healthy two-goal cushion against their 10-man hosts, who did cut the deficit in half through Chris Durkin just two minutes after Musovski's effort, but it was a fruitless endeavour.

Rooney could have had few complaints about Ruiz's outrageous goal from inside his own half, but the Manchester United icon was less than impressed at the decision to deny his side a potentially priceless penalty later in the game, sparking a scathing post-match rant from the DC boss about the standard of MLS refereeing.

A calm head would not go amiss in DC right now, though, as Rooney's men enter the weekend languishing in eighth in the Eastern Conference standings having won just one of their last five matches in MLS, suffering back-to-back losses to Atlanta United and now Real Salt Lake.

A six-game scoring streak does offer a sliver of hope for the Black-and-Red, but the hosts have also failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last five affairs and have only won a third of their games at Audi Field so far - frailties that Cincinnati should need no second invitation to capitalise on.

Similarly to their upcoming opponents, Cincinnati have also been finding the back of the net for fun in recent times, but Pat Noonan's men have coupled their prolific tendencies with defensive resilience at the other end of the field to maintain their unassailable lead at the summit.

Vancouver Whitecaps denied Cincinnati a 10th successive win in all competitions two weekends ago, but the Orange and Blue reverted to type on Wednesday with a 3-0 trouncing of lowly Toronto courtesy of goals from Santiago Arias, Luciano Acosta and Dominique Badji.

Holding an eight-point lead over closest challengers Nashville in the Eastern Conference standings and the Supporters' Shield rankings, Cincinnati are still fighting for success on three fronts this term, with an Open Cup semi-final against Inter Miami and Leagues Cup group phase also on the agenda for Noonan and co.

So far, though, Cincinnati have shown no signs of waning when forced to juggle league and cup commitments, stringing together an outstanding 14-game unbeaten run in all tournaments - winning 12 of them - and not since the second week of the season against Orlando City have they failed to make the net bulge.

Then again, just three of Cincinnati's 13 wins this season have come on rival territory, but they boast back-to-back triumphs over DC United from their last two meetings, marching to a 2-1 victory last month after a 5-2 drubbing at Audi Field just eight months ago.

DC United Major League Soccer form:

W

L

D

W

L

L

FC Cincinnati Major League Soccer form:

W

W

W

W

D

W

FC Cincinnati form (all competitions):

W

W

W

W

D

W

Team News

Birnbaum's early sending-off last weekend means that the DC skipper - who was also fined for failing to leave the field in a timely manner -will have to watch Saturday's showdown from the naughty step, so Donovan Pines ought to fill the hole in the backline.

Striker Nigel Robertha and playmaker Theodore Ku-DiPietro are both on the mend from ankle problems and will remain sidelined for the time being, while Mohanad Jeahze (calf) and Martin Rodriguez (knee) also take up spots in the hosts' infirmary.

Right-back Andy Najar was recently involved in a nonsensical incident with Honduras as one of several players to boycott a friendly with Barbados due to a perceived unplayable pitch; the right-back went so far as to claim he was injured before coming off the bench against Real Salt Lake.

As for Cincinnati, Noonan has no fresh fitness concerns to take into account from midweek, but Brenner (ankle), Sergio Santos (hamstring) and Nick Hagglund (hamstring) remain out of contention.

Matt Miazga and Brandon Vazquez are also on Gold Cup duty with the United States, so Badji and Yuya Kubo should continue to spearhead the visitors' depleted attack.

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Yerson Mosquera will soon return from international duty with Colombia, but it remains to be seen if the centre-back will be given the green light to play here.

DC United possible starting lineup:

Miller; Williams, Pines, Hines-Ike; Durkin, O'Brien, Klich, Samake; Dajome, Benteke, Hurtado

FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:

Celentano; Powell, Murphy, Mosquera; Arias, Nwobodo, Angulo, Barreal; Acosta; Badji, Kubo

We say: DC United 1-2 FC Cincinnati

DC United need no lessons in making their attacking phases count, but it is a different story for Rooney's charges at the other end of the field, and a third successive loss is surely on the cards.

Cincinnati are missing several members of their forward line for various reasons, but the league leaders should still march on with a win here - even if their inconsistent away form and midweek fatigue means it is not as emphatic as first hoped.

How to watch

You can watch DC United vs. FC Cincinnati and every MLS match this season live on Apple TV. Click here for more details on how to subscribe.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email

Top News

14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk England moved to the top of their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League group on Thursday evening courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Greece. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Didier Deschamps was left frustrated on Thursday as his France side failed to capitalise on their dominance against Israel, being held to a 0-0 draw, though they still progressed to the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals after Italy beat Belgium in the other League A Group 2 fixture. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk England have risen to the top of Group 2 of League B in the UEFA Nations League courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Greece in Athens on Thursday night. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Sandro Tonali's first international goal was enough to send Italy through to the finals of the UEFA Nations League courtesy of a 1-0 win away in Belgium this evening. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Chelsea Women and Manchester City Women will go head-to-head in Saturday's top-of-the-table clash at Stamford Bridge. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Pep Guardiola has asked Manchester City to sign two defenders in 2025, according to a report. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Al-Nassr centre-back Aymeric Laporte has said that he is open to making the move to Real Madrid. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona sporting director Deco has said that his club are not planning to be active during the January transfer window. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Moldova can boost their hopes of securing promotion from League D Group 2 in the UEFA Nations League when they face fellow European minnows Andorra at Estadi Nacional on Saturday. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Montenegro welcome Iceland to Stadion Kraj Bistrice in Niksic for their penultimate League B Group 4 fixture in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday evening. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal Women and Tottenham Hotspur Women will be looking to secure derby bragging rights when they face off in Saturday's Women's Super League clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Nacho has ruled out the possibility of returning to Real Madrid amid suggestions that Los Blancos were considering making an attempt to re-sign him during the January transfer window. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Two teams with contrasting objectives in the National League are set to meet at the Gateshead International Stadium on Saturday, as promotion hopefuls Gateshead host relegation-threatened Aldershot Town. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Ruben Amorim will reportedly take Manchester United training for the first time on Monday, with the club confident that his visa will have arrived in time for him to officially get on the grass next week. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has said that a back issue forced Lisandro Martinez to pull out of the squad for the national team's upcoming 2026 World Cup qualification matches with Paraguay and Peru. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso has reportedly set his sights on an exit from the club next summer, and plans to take key man Alex Grimaldo with him. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Locked together at the top of League C Group 1 with two games to play, Sweden and Slovakia will battle it out to take the outright lead when they meet on Saturday evening. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal will reportedly allow out-of-favour defender Jakub Kiwior to leave the club on loan in January. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Wales travel to the Kadir Has Stadium in Kayseri to face Turkey in their penultimate League B Group 4 fixture in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday evening. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona midfielder Pablo Torre has not ruled out the possibility of leaving the club in January, after seeing his game time reduced recently. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Aiming to narrow their gap to the top two in the League One table with a third consecutive victory, Barnsley will visit the Abbey Stadium to take on Cambridge United on Saturday. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Alexander Isak has delivered a fresh update on his future at Newcastle United, amid reported interest from a number of clubs including Arsenal. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk West Ham United Women will attempt to claim back-to-back victories when they travel to the Broadfield Stadium for Saturday's Women's Super League meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion Women. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Roma have confirmed the appointment of 73-year-old Claudio Ranieri as their new first-team manager until the end of the season. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon has revealed that he was "desperate" to join Chelsea in 2022. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal could rival Manchester City and Liverpool for the signature of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool are reportedly weighing up whether to make a move for in-form PSV Eindhoven striker Ricardo Pepi. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk As exquisite as Pedro Neto's equaliser was, the Portuguese's 20-yard leveller for Chelsea in Sunday's 1-1 Premier League draw with Arsenal was arguably more to do with the Gunners' uncharacteristic defensive failings. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona have reportedly made a decision over whether they will pursue a move for Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold. 14 November 2024 sportsmole.co.uk Estevao Willian has revealed that he will continue with his education even after completing a big-money transfer to Chelsea.