Cincinnati vs Orlando City

TQL Stadium is the venue as Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls Cincinnati take on out-of-sorts Orlando City in a tasty-looking Major League Soccer showdown.

These are tumultuous times for Cincinnati as they’ve gone winless in three MLS fixtures (D1, L2) on the trot since a 2-1 win away to Chicago Fire in mid-May. Cincinnati’s defensive woes have seen them concede in their last five competitive outings, at an average of 2.8 per match. Despite coming out 2-1 victors in their only previous league H2H in 2022, the ‘Orange and Blue’ have failed to keep a single clean sheet in their six MLS meetings with Orlando (W1, D2, L3). If that’s not enough for concern, Pat Noonan’s men have registered just one shutout across their six MLS home games this term (W2, L4).

In the meantime, Orlando City scored on either side of half-time to beat Houston Dynamo 2-1 last time out and arrest a run of three winless MLS matches (D2, L1). However, they are only five points clear of eighth-placed Cincinnati, meaning a potential defeat here could jeopardise their playoff chances. Unfortunately for the ‘Lions,’ signs are ominous as they head into proceedings having won just one of their last four MLS match-ups away from home (D2, L1). By contrast, Oscar Pareja’s lads have only lost one of their eight league fixtures on hostile turf this season (W3, D4).