One year ago, the Lions were second only to FC Cincinnati in the race for the Supporters Shield. Fast forward to 2024 and the Lions have struggled out of the gate, despite only losing once in their last five games, but even though Cincinnati jettisoned top goal scorer Brandon Vazquez, the southwest Ohio side is second in the Eastern Conference. Although Saturday’s visitors haven’t been scoring as many goals, they’ve also bulked up defensively and have been stingy against opposing attacks.

Joining us to help prep for FC Cincinnati is Coach Gough from Cincy Soccer Talk. Coach was kind enough to fill us in on how FCC is doing offensively and defensively, how the new faces are fitting in, and what the team is doing without Vazquez. Big thanks to our special guest for giving us the scoop on Orlando City’s opponents on Saturday.

This week’s mailbagbox asked us about scrambling the Orlando City starting lineup, OCB going up against college teams, non-craft beer, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

Finally, we turned our attention to Saturday’s matchup and how we see it playing out. We presented our key matchups for the game and our final score predictions. We’re not feeling particularly optimistic after last Saturday, especially when Orlando City will have to figure out a way through the towering defense of the visitors, most of which have played (or currently play) for the U.S. Men’s National Team.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

Here’s how No. 415 went down:

0:15 – Coach Gough joins us to give us the scoop on FC Cincinnati’s 2024 season so far.

21:18 – Our mailbagbox has us changing everyone’s positions and it’s frankly hard to keep track of when doing it live.

43:12 – Our key matchups and score predictions for Saturday night against FCC under the lights.

The Orlando Pride continued their winning ways on Friday, but that news has been overshadowed by Brazilian midfielder Luana’s diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Luana will miss the rest of the season undergoing treatment and we wish her all the luck, love, and positive vibes we can possibly send. We know she’s a battler, so we believe she will overcome this illness and return stronger than ever.

We broke down Orlando’s win at Washington, including Barbra Banda’s huge night in her first start, as well as Anna Moorhouse’s unnecessary adventures in goal. It’s great that the Pride are winning, but something must be done to stop these massive mistakes by Moorhouse, who has now made three critical errors in her last 11 NWSL matches. We checked in on our score predictions and made our selections for Player of the Match, which was always going to be a no-brainer.

Our mailbagbox this week asked us about the name of this podcast, the Pride’s goalkeeping situation, why a one-goal lead late fills one of our listeners with dread, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

We finished the show with our previews for the Pride’s two matches in the coming days against the North Carolina Courage and Racing Louisville. We looked into their statistical accomplishments to date, provided our key matchups for the game, and gave our score predictions.

Here’s how Episode 41 went down:

0:15 – Luana needs our support. Plus, the Pride continued their successful run against the Spirit, but the end was much more nervy than it should have been.

30:35 – The mailbagbox is so full and we love it.

51:03 – Previewing the Courage and Racing Louisville, both of which will visit Inter&Co Stadium within the next week.

Orlando City was doing OK against Toronto FC…until it wasn’t. The Lions held the advantage for a good chunk of the game, but two late goals allowed the Reds to smash and grab three points from Orlando on their way back to Canada. We break down the game, check in on our score predictions, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox asked us about the EPL race, wrestling walk-up music we’d pick for ourselves, Orlando City’s start to 2024, win probability, Italian players, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

Finally, we turned our attention to OCB and Toronto FC II. The Young Lions finally got to play in Kissimmee for the first time this season, and appeared headed for at least a point when disaster struck late. The Reds scored in the 87th minute to swipe (Swiper, no swiping!) all three points from the Young Lions. Soccer is pain (at least for this week).

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

Here’s how No. 414 went down:

0:15 – The Lions didn’t give up an early goal this time. Instead, they gave up two late ones. It was worse.

24:29 – Our mailbagbox is undeterred by the loss and the questions (and answers) were flowing.

49:00 – OCB had its own trouble with the Reds on Sunday.