Los Angeles FC will look to end April on a winning note when they travel to the TQL Stadium to take on FC Cincinnati this weekend. This will also be the first meeting between the two sides since 2019- LAFC, the supporters’ shield winners that year, beat Cincinnati (then a new expansion franchise), 2-0 on that occasion thanks to goals from Mark-Anthony Kaye and Carlos Vela.
LAFC have got off to a pretty decent start this season and lead both the Western Conference and the overall league table going into this weekend’s round of fixtures. They have scored in every league game and have already found the back of the net 17 times- only Austin have scored as many in the 28 team league. Their only loss so far came at the hands of local rivals LA Galaxy earlier this month- a narrow one which they actually edged on xG (2.07 to Galaxy’s 1.52, see map below)
LAFC’s last five games have all produced three or more goals, as can be seen below.
(Most recent first plus LAFC goal scorers in those games)
LAFC 5-1 Orange County (Cup)- Musovski*2, Arango*2, Jennings
LAFC 3-1 Sporting KC- Arango, Tajouri, Cifuentes
Galaxy 2-1 LAFC (Arango)
Orlando City 2-4 LAFC (Rodriguez, Murillo, Ilie, Opoku)
LAFC 3-1 Vancouver (Hollingshead*2, Vela)
The odds at Betway suggest that LAFC should be able to clinch their sixth league win of the season this weekend in Ohio- a fair assumption given where both teams are in the table currently. Steve Cherundolo’s men, as mentioned above, are top of the table while Cincinnati are 12th in the Eastern Conference and 23rd overall.
April has been a disappointing month for Cincinnati, whose last league win came against Inter Miami last month. Since then, they have lost 2-0 to Charlotte, 4-3 to Montreal and drew 0-0 with Atlanta. They also needed extra time to beat the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in their Cup clash, with Alvaro Barreal netting in the 95th and 99th minutes to send them through.
FC Cincinnati last five games- most recent first along with goal scorers
Cincinnati 2-0 Pittsburgh (Cup)- Barreal*2 (including one pen goal)
Atlanta 0-0 Cincinnati
Cincinnati 3-4 Montreal- Vazquez, own goal, Acosta pen
Charlotte 2-0 Cincinnati
Cincinnati 3-1 Inter Miami (Matarrita, Vazquez*2)
However LAFC do have some key players ruled out for this clash- Mamadou Fall is suspended while the likes of Rodriguez, Tajouri, Segura, Duenas and Gaines are all injured.
The referee for this clash is Ismail Elfath. Both teams have already played one league game under him this season- Cincinnati’s was a heavy 5-0 loss against Austin, while LAFC’s was a 1-1 draw against Portland Timbers. Elfath averages a little over five yellow cards a game this season.
The home side will be in their orange kit for this clash and have also encouraged their supporters to ensure the stadium is a sea of orange.
