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New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati
When: Saturday, April 24 – 13:00 EDT
Where: Yankee Stadium in New York City, NY, USA
Weather: Sunny, 20°C
FC Cincinnati’s Third Season in MLS
FC Cincinnati hoped for a more successful journey throughout its first two years in the MLS. They have finished last in the Eastern Conference in each of the last two years.
Over those two seasons, FC Cincinnati managed a disastrous 10-10-37 record, and -68 GD. That translated to a 64.91% loss rate, which makes it hard to trust them heading into the new season.
It’s also worth noting how (un)successful FC Cincinnati were the last four times they took a trip to the Big Apple. FC Cincinnati lost all three games at the Yankee Stadium with 2-5, 1-2, and 0-4 for a combined score of 2-11.
On a more positive note, FC Cincinnati managed a 2-2 draw in Nashville in their season opener. Even that result, however, has left a sour taste in their mouths.
FC Cincinnati scored two early goals in 8′ and 12′ via Luciano Acosta and Brenner Souza da Silva to grab a 2-0 lead. Which they then let go of by conceding twice in 20′ and 64′.
With what FC Cincinnati showed that day, they probably should have lost, however, we must give them some props for looking better than in the previous season. That small praise should be taken with a grain of salt, since it should be hard for FC Cincinnati to look much worse.
Regardless, the signing of Acosta and Brenner should see FC Cincinnati score a few more goals this season – and hopefully, concede less. In other words, we have high (relatively) expectations for this side.
New York FC City Are Very Fragile
New York City FC opened the new season with a 1-2 loss against DC United, however, I would go so far as to say that they deserved at least a draw. Regardless, this is not the same team we were looking at a year back.
During the off-season, City lost a few key players – most notably Ronald Matarrita who left for Cincinnati FC -which won’t do them any favors going forward. That could spell huge problems as soon as City get hit with a few injuries, but at least for now, they don’t have to worry about that.
While we aren’t too big on New York City FC and their chances to impress this season, they’re still historically the better side of the two. As mentioned above, they have already beaten FC Cincinnati three times at Yankee Stadium, and four times overall.
City were the fifth-best home side last season with a 7-0-4 record and a +11 GD. In comparison, FC Cincinnati were the second-worst away team with a 2-0-10 record and -19 GD. We have mentioned how FC Cincinnati should look better than last season, however, anything but a massive improvement won’t change the fact that they struggle on the road.
New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati Betting Picks
Signing Brenner Souza da Silva should drastically improve FC Cincinnati scoring capabilities. The 21-year-old has joined the MLS side from Sao Paulo from Serie A, where he has scored 34 goals in 56 games.
He was even linked with a move to Arsenal for a while in 2020, but eventually landed in FC Cincinnati. And it was not like he was cheap – Cincinnati had to pay $15 million, marking the third-highest transfer fee in MLS history.
Whether that was a good buy is up to debate, but Brenner Souza da Silva has already scored once in his debut, and it’s fair to say there will be more goals to come from him.
Similarly, signing Luciano Acosta is a huge acquisition. He has had an exceptional season in 2018, and if he can gel with the Brazilian, this could blossom into one of the deadliest duos in the league.
While we talk about FC Cincinnati’s goalscoring power, we can’t forget to mention New York City’s as well. They’ve scored 37 goals last season, 24 of which at home. New York City FC have managed 2.18 goals per game at the Yankee Stadium and there is nothing that would suggest that will change in 2021.
Although there is a small chance FC Cincinnati can upset New York City today, we can’t know for sure whether the visitors will look as good as they do on paper. What we do know, however, is that we’re in for an exciting and high-scoring affair.
All of the last four head-to-head meetings between these two sides ended with at least three goals, with three endings in four or more. Most of those goals came from City, but we can expect FC Cincinnati to get their name on the scoresheet once or twice tonight as well.
Prediction: Over 3.00 goals
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