Preview: How FC Cincinnati's personnel outlook improved ahead of D.C. United trip

FC Cincinnati’s star power is the club’s preferred currency even though its depth is also a proven commodity. But in the continued absence of considerable star power, and even with some positive developments on the personnel front, the depth will have to sustain FCC once again in its upcoming match.

FC Cincinnati used an overwhelming show of depth Wednesday against 13th-placed Toronto at TQL Stadium to rout the visitors, 3-0. Saturday’s road match at Audi Field against D.C. United should present a trickier task but FCC could still be leaning on a cast similar to the one it deployed midweek.

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That offers pros and cons for Major League Soccer’s top club, which will travel to Washington, D.C., with a 13-1-4 record, an eight-point lead in the race for the Supporters Shield, and a May 6 win against United already secured.

Wednesday’s game presented itself as an uncertain proposition for FC Cincinnati given its personnel deficits but the contest ultimately proved to be arguably its most comprehensive win of 2023.

A win Saturday would complete FCC’s first-ever season sweep of D.C.

“I think there’s a lot of similarities just in what we’ve seen from our (May 6) matchup against them, which we’ll use a lot of that to assess things, but they’ve obviously played a good stretch of games,” FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. “Some tough games to analyze because of how unique they were with some red cards … Maybe a little bit of tweaks just with how they use the front five positionally and personnel-wise, you know, again, I’m a broken record, but the challenges that teams are facing with having to rotate, we’ve got guys coming back from international duty, so do they recover and play?"

Personnel updates for FC Cincinnati

While FC Cincinnati’s personnel outlook improved coming out of the Toronto game, it could again be without all three players from its preferred center back trio, two of its top three scorers, and it will be without defensive midfielder Junior Moreno, who was injured during warmups for a recent Venezuela men’s national team game.

Speaking Thursday during his pre-match news conference, Noonan confirmed Moreno wouldn’t be available against United. FCC is targeting a July 1 return for Moreno.

Noonan also explained Nick Hagglund and Sergio Santos are more likely to play a role in Saturday’s match after he initially said both players would be available for selection for the Toronto game prior to leaving them off the dress list.

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Both players would be a welcome return for Cincinnati, which used a kind of makeshift back line against TFC comprised of four wing-defenders and second-year Ian Murphy anchoring central defense.

Murphy’s no stranger to starting, though, and has performed well. And if Hagglund returned, that would constitute one-third of the club’s preferred center-back trio.

The remaining two-thirds are comprised of Matt Miazga, who could miss the next five games due to USMNT duty, but also Yerson Mosquera. Cincinnati is hopeful Mosquera can rejoin the team ahead of Saturday’s game as he was awaiting government paperwork in Toronto as of Thursday afternoon.  

The latest on United

D.C. United hosts FC Cincinnati on the heels of two straight losses, bringing its record to 6-8-5 and 23 points. That puts United on the edge of the Eastern Conference playoff picture where it has an identical record with Charlotte FC but has the tiebreaker advantage.

Christian Benteke continues to pace the D.C. attack with eight goals. At 6-foot-3, he would seem to pose a particular threat to FC Cincinnati's back line as he's taller than all five defenders FCC started against Toronto.

Benteke boasts an MLS-leading 137 aerial duels won.

FC Cincinnati could look to exploit the absence of central defender Steve Birnbaum, who was issued a red-card in United's home loss to Real Salt Lake last weekend.

The game

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m., Saturday | Audi Field, Washington, D.C.

Stream/radio: Apple TV/ESPN 1530

All-time series: D.C. United leads the all-time series against FC Cincinnati with four wins, three draws and two losses (4-2-3)

Cincinnati.com prediction: FC Cincinnati 2, D.C. United 1.

FC Cincinnati

Record: 13-1-4; 43 points, first in MLS

Goals for: 30

Goals against: 16

Head coach: Pat Noonan - second season as head coach

Projected starting XI:

Roman Celentano, goalkeeper

Alvaro Barreal, left back

Santiago Arias, right back

Alvas Powell, center back

Ian Murphy, center back

Nick Hagglund, center back

Marco Angulo, midfielder

Obinna Nwobodo, midfielder

Luciano Acosta, midfielder

Sergio Santos, forward

Dominique Badji, forward

D.C. United

Record: 6-8-5, ninth place in MLS Eastern Conference

Goals for: 26

Goals against: 26

Head coach: Wayne Rooney

Projected starting XI:

Tyler Miller, goalkeeper

Brendan Hines-Ike, defender

Donovan Pines, defender

Derrick Williams, defender

Gaoussou Samaké, defender

Chris Durkin, midfielder

Russell Canouse, midfielder

Lewis O'Brien, midfielder

Cristian Dájome, forward/winger

Mateusz Klich, forward/winger

Christian Benteke, forward