Orlando City vs. FC Cincinnati: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread for a Sunday afternoon match-up between Orlando City (3-6-3, 12 points) and MLS expansion side FC Cincinnati (3-7-2, 11 points) at Orlando City Stadium. It’s the first of two scheduled meetings between the teams this season, with the return trip to Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati set for Sunday, Sept. 29.

History

There isn’t any. Orlando City and FC Cincinnati will be playing for the first time.

Overview

The Lions are 0-3-1 in their last four matches and 2-3-1 at home. Orlando City did manage to score a goal at Seattle to snap a lengthy scoreless drought. The team’s lack of offense continues to be a problem, as the Lions have scored more than one goal only twice this season (both at home) — in opening day’s 2-2 draw and a 4-3 win over Colorado.

Major League Soccer newcomers FC Cincinnati started the season OK but then fell off a bit, leading to the firing of Alan Koch as head coach after a five-game losing streak in which the team failed to score a single goal. Koch was replaced by Yoann Damet on an interim basis and he led the team to a 2-1 win over the Montreal Impact last weekend at home. Ohio’s new MLS club is 1-5-1 away from Nippert Stadium this season. Whether that’s a sign of better form for FCC or just a momentary boost of morale and energy, it’s too soon to tell.

Cincinnati will be the vastly fresher team, having not played since Saturday, May 11. Orlando has played twice since then — both on the road on artificial surfaces. James O’Connor prepared for today’s match by not having several starters travel to Seattle. Brian Rowe, Ruan, Robin Jansson, and Will Johnson all were out of the 18 on Wednesday. Nani (calf) may also be returning after missing the last two games. Carlos Ascues (hamstring, quad) is questionable.

As of Thursday’s MLS Injury Report, Cincinnati midfielder Jimmy McLaughlin (right ACL surgery) was listed as out, with both midfielder Corben Bone (left shoulder injury) and defender Alvas Powell (right ankle injury) listed as questionable. Our friends at Cincinnati Soccer Talk also expect that Allan Cruz could miss the match after sustaining a knock last week vs. Montreal, but he wasn’t listed on the injury report as of Thursday.

Mandatory Match #Content

• Our Intelligence Report provides more info about the Sounders from Mark Kastner of SB Nation’s Seattle blog, Sounder at Heart.
• This week’s PawedCast features our key match-ups and score predictions for Sunday’s match.

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Brian Rowe.

Defenders: Joao Moutinho, Robin Jansson, Lamine Sané, Ruan.

Midfielders: Will Johnson, Sebas Mendez, Cristian Higuita.

Forwards: Nani, Chris Mueller, Tesho Akindele.

Bench: Greg Ranjitsingh, Kyle Smith, Kamal Miller, Uri Rosell, Josué Colmán, Benji Michel, Dom Dwyer.

FC Cincinnati (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Spencer Richey.

Defenders: Greg Garza, Kendall Waston, Justin Hoyte, Mathieu Deplagne.

Midfielders: Frankie Amaya, Victor Ulloa, Eric Alexander.

Forwards: Kekuta Manneh, Darren Mattocks, Emmanuel Ledesma.

Bench: Przemyslaw Tyton, Nick Hagglund, Caleb Stanko, Kenny Saief, Nazmi Albadwawi, Alvas Powell, Fandendo Adi,

Referees

Ref: Nima Saghafi.

AR1: Eduardo Mariscal.

AR2: Chris Elliott.

4th: Luis Guardia,

VAR: Geoff Gamble.

AVAR: Eric Weisbrod.

How to Watch

Match Time: 3 p.m. ET.

Venue: Orlando City Stadium — Orlando, FL.

TV: My65 (local only).

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English), La Nueva 990 (Spanish).

Streaming: ESPN+, YouTube TV.

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City's official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

Match Thread Rules

This is your live thread for posting comments on the match. So use our comments section below to talk about the game in real time with other supporters. If you’re new, welcome to our happy home! While you’re here, please observe a few basic rules:

• Absolutely no links to illegal streams. They can get us in trouble, and no one wants that.
• Try not to be the person who spews nothing but venom and hate for the team. It’s OK to be critical, and, let’s face it, sometimes even the best teams can be frustrating to watch, but being overly negative relentlessly can sap the enjoyment for others.
• Keep it somewhat clean and fair when criticizing players / officials. You never know who might be reading.
• Do unto others in the match thread, the way you would have others do unto you. We are a fun community and want to keep it this way. We have a moderator, but we’d rather let him enjoy the game instead of having to play babysitter.

Enjoy the match! Go City!