High-flying FC Cincinnati will have a fifth straight Major League Soccer victory in their sights when they welcome Sporting Kansas City to TQL Stadium on Saturday evening.
The away side, on the other hand, will make the journey aiming to pick up consecutive victories for the first time this term and kick-start their league journey off the back of what has undoubtedly been a rough start.
Match preview
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Off the back of their CONCACAF Champions Cup exit to Mexican outfit Tigres, Cincinnati were beaten in their next league outing against Charlotte FC, leaving them with two wins and two defeats from their opening four league matches.
Without the added burden of continental football, Pat Noonan's men have since taken things up a notch in the league with four wins and a draw from their subsequent five matches following Sunday's thrilling 3-2 victory over Chicago Fire.
Continuing his blistering goalscoring form on his return to action from injury, midfielder Evander was the match winner for the Knifey Lions once again with goals in both halves either side of Kevin Denkey's strike.
Cincinnati's near-perfect form over the last month has propelled them up to second place in the Eastern Conference standings, level on 19 points with leaders Charlotte FC, who, however, boast a superior goal difference.
Currently boasting the league's longest active winning streak, Saturday's hosts will now set out to continue their recent resurgence in front of their fans, where they are yet to suffer defeat since the turn of the year.
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Sporting Kansas City could have hardly kicked off the season on a worse note after seven defeats from their opening eight matches, a run which saw them dumped out of the Champions Cup by Inter Miami.
Just a few days after leading his side to a first win of the campaign against St Louis on April 6, Peter Vermes was relieved of his duties as head coach, with Kerry Zagavnin taking over on a temporary basis.
Zagavnin was unable to make a winning start to life at the helm of affairs after a 4-2 defeat to Portland Timbers, but the 50-year-old would not be denied at the second time of asking as he and his team emerged 5-3 victors from an eight-goal thriller against San Jose Earthquakes.
Now up to seven points from a possible 27, the Wizards have leapfrogged the Houston Dynamo into 13th place in the West but still have a five-point gap to make up to get themselves back in playoff contention.
Managing just one clean sheet from 10 games across all competitions so far, Saturday's visitors will need to tighten up at the back if they are to turn their season around, starting with this weekend's trip to Ohio, where their last affair ended in a 4-3 loss.
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Team News
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Cincinnati's Teenage Hadebe continues his personal battle with a hamstring problem and is unavailable for selection this weekend alongside Obinna Nwobodo.
Meanwhile, 34-year-old Alec Kann is gearing up towards making his comeback from a hip injury, although Saturday's encounter is likely to come too soon.
Evander is now up to six goals and one assist in his seven games for the home side since joining from Portland Timbers and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Jake Davis was absent from Sporting Kansas' victory over San Jose last time out due to a hamstring problem, making the American a huge doubt to feature here.
Defender Daniel Rosero has endured an injury-plagued last couple of months with a thigh problem that will keep him out for the away side once again.
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Celentano; Engel, Hagglund, Robinson, Miazga, Yedlin; Evander, Anunga, Bucha; Denkey, Santos
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Pulskamp; Ndenbe, Fernandez, Miller, Shelton; Bartlett, Radoja, Garcia; Salloi, Joveljic, Suleymanov
We say: FC Cincinnati 2-1 Sporting Kansas City
Cincinnati are on a roll at the moment and will definitely take some stopping on Saturday.
While we can see Sporting Kansas City putting up a decent fight, we are leaning towards a win for the home side at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
