Minnesota United v FC Cincinnati: Consistency the key for playoffs, says Noonan

FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan is striving for consistency from his players after confirming their place in the MLS playoffs.

Noonan’s side were held to a goalless draw against Leagues Cup champions Columbus Crew but have now gone two home games without a victory or scoring a goal.

While securing their spot in the playoffs was something the Orange and Blue could have only dreamed of a few years ago, Noonan’s future ambitions for his team overshadowed any celebrations.

“It's hard to do, and we strive for consistency, and consistency for our group and our expectations is to be a playoff team and then be a top seed and be playing games at home in the playoffs,” Noonan said.

“I think we go into this next game as healthy and with as many options as we have had. The goal for us needs to be to maintain that over this final stretch so that we can have consistency with our selection and with our starting 11.

“But I think if we want to have a strong end to the season and have a strong playoff run, it needs to be with players available in depth and competition in our squad. Certainly, that'll be important.”

Minnesota, meanwhile, did their chances of reaching the playoffs the world of good with an impressive 3-1 victory over in-form St. Louis City in their last MLS fixture.

The Loons overcame Cedric Teuchert’s third minute opener to remain ninth in the Western Conference table, bridging the gap between themselves and FC Dallas one place below them.

Head coach Eric Ramsay lauded his side’s display in breaking down St. Louis’ resolute defence, and detailed how his players plan to attack the final games of the season to remain in the playoff picture.

“We want to be a team that can shift between a number of shapes according to the situations we anticipate coming, according to the players that we’ve got in form and available,” Ramsay said.

“We want to be, ultimately, an aggressive team, we want to be a team that can press, can have more of the ball, can steal the ball higher up [the field].

“When you are playing in a back five, that isn’t as easy as it looks sometimes on paper.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Minnesota United – Bongokuhle Hlongwane

Hlongwane’s strike against St. Louis last time out was his 10th goal of the season for Minnesota.

In doing so, he became the fifth different Loons player to record a double-digit scoring season and the third in the last three years.

FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta

Having struggled in front of goal in their recent MLS fixtures, top scorer and captain Acosta will be key for Cincinnati at Allianz Field. 

But the Argentine comes up against a side he has failed to score against in his MLS career, with Minnesota one of only seven teams he is yet to net past.

MATCH PREDICTION: FC CINCINNATI WIN

Cincinnati won their last match against the Loons in May. But Minnesota were unbeaten in the first four meetings between the sides (W3 D1), outscoring Cincinnati, 10-1, in those games.

However, Cincinnati have now lost consecutive regular season away matches after losing only one of their previous 16 on the road in league play (W12 D3). This is Cincinnati’s first set of back-to-back regular season away losses since the start of the 2022 campaign.

But the Loons have struggled at Allianz Field, losing four of their last five regular-season home matches. Prior to this run, they had lost just four of their previous 27 games on home soil dating back to April 2023.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Minnesota United – 31.9%

Draw – 25.4%

FC Cincinnati – 42.7%