FC Cincinnati will host Nashville SC on Saturday in a key Eastern Conference matchup.
Cincinnati has lost three straight home games and is looking to address recent offensive struggles.
Nashville features the highest-scoring duo in MLS with Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar.
A win for FC Cincinnati could clinch a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season.
Following the September FIFA International Break, FC Cincinnati is back at TQL Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, to host Nashville SC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from TQL Stadium.
FC Cincinnati (16-9-4, 52 points) is second in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference. Nashville (15-9-5, 50 points) is just two points behind FCC in fourth place.
Cincinnati has lost three straight home games by 1-0 scores, and two consecutive games overall for the first time this season. Nashville has lost four of five entering the match, but their victory over that stage came in a dominant 5-1 win over Orlando City SC on Aug. 23.
Every point is crucial in the tightly competitive table in both the Eastern Conference and the overall MLS standings. Cincinnati can still make a run at the Supporters’ Shield and have home-field advantage through the MLS playoffs. But a Nashville win vaults them about the Orange and Blue, and leaves Cincy more vulnerable to being passed by teams below them.
“We need to win for a lot of reasons,” head coach Pat Noonan said Sept. 11. “But where we’re at in the season, the stretch of not winning at home, I would imagine the fans aren’t happy with not winning games, just like we aren’t. So we want to win for a lot of reasons, and certainly to have them experience a win on our home field. That hasn’t happened often enough recently.