The Major League Soccer season is beginning to get into a real rhythm as all clubs involved find their feet and start to build some momentum. There are plenty of reasons to believe this could be the best MLS campaign yet, with teams across North America getting better and better. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be a fascinating encounter between Charlotte FC and FC Cincinnati.
Charlotte Form GuideAs an expansion team, it’s hard for fans to expect all too much from Charlotte in their first few years of existence. It’s all about establishing themselves and when you consider that they probably don’t have the same kind of financial platform as other newcomers to the league, it becomes clear why they’re struggling. Still, they aren’t the worst team in the East, and they can often be enjoyable to watch.
Charlotte kicked off their season with a 1-0 win over New York City. From there they drew 1-1 with Vancouver, before being hit with back-to-back losses against Toronto and Nashville. In their latest outing, they surprised many with a 2-0 win over reigning champions Columbus.
Cincinnati Form GuideCincinnati made quite the splash last season as they won the Supporters’ Shield, which is handed out to the club with the best regular season record. They did so by accumulating 69 points but in the playoffs, they couldn’t make it all the way. They did get through NY Red Bulls and Philadelphia, only to fall short to Columbus in the conference finals.
Cincinnati’s season began with a 0-0 draw at home to Toronto. From there, they beat Chicago 2-1 on the road before another 0-0 draw - this time at home to DC United. They proceeded to pick up two more victories as they edged past New England and New York City.
Match PredictionCharlotte are slowly but surely building a real identity for themselves and it’s pretty exciting to see. On the flip side, Cincy are continuing to look like one of the most exciting teams in the league right now. Therefore, we’re going with the somewhat obvious prediction of a Cincinnati win.
