FC Cincinnati prepares for punchy Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium: Preview

It would be unfair to sound alarms or be overly dramatic about the current state of FC Cincinnati but it's sensible to acknowledge the last four matches constituted as much of a slide as we've seen from the team in 2023.

With a 1-1-2 record and five points earned from its last four matches, first-place FC Cincinnati is looking to re-solidify its lead atop Major League Soccer's league-wide standings. FCC should have an opportunity to build on its MLS-best record of 13-2-5 Saturday when it travels to Bank of America Stadium to play 10th-place Charlotte FC for the first time this year.

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Cincinnati enters the match with 44 points through 20 league matches. Nashville SC is FCC's nearest pursuer with 36 points through 21 games.

FC Cincinnati on Saturday will meet a Charlotte FC team on the fraying edge of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Charlotte is on 25 points through 21 games, one point behind CF Montréal for the ninth and final playoff position.

Charlotte's place in the standings is reflective of the goals it has conceded, which amount to the most in MLS (36). That the club remains in playoff contention is a nod to a serviceable attack that's produced 28 scores.

Charlotte has tied four consecutive matches. Karol Swiderski leads the team with five goals but the club features seven players with multiple goals in 2023.

"Swiderski is one of the top players in this league in how he can find the game and how he can make plays with his creativity, making his own shot," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. "I think they have a lot of experience and quality that, when you get those guys in isolation, they can make plays. And I also think they compete well. You look at all the games recently. I know the results haven't been in their favor, or I would imagine they'd like those draws to be wins, but they compete. They're in every game they play and that's always a sign of a team that has belief."

After weeks of cobbling together starting lineups, FC Cincinnati is as close to full strength as it has been since the June 10 match against Vancouver Whitecaps, which was the last match before players departed for international duty.

Brandon Vazquez and Matt Miazga are still away with the USMNT but Junior Moreno is the latest regular starter seemingly fit to resume his normal workload. Moreno this week enjoyed a full week of practice after missing two matches due to an injury he sustained with the Venezuelan national team.

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Still waiting on Boupendza (updated)

The hope was FC Cincinnati's newly acquired designated-player striker, Aaron Boupendza, would arrived in time to be introduced to TQL Stadium last weekend during the match against New England Revolution. Then, by Tuesday, it was expected Boupendza could begin training with FCC.

Both days came and went and as of Thursday, Boupendza still hadn't arrived for FCC. While he's new to the club and will require time to acclimate, his absence will be felt at Charlotte as the club continues to play without Vazquez, who is away with the USMNT for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

On Friday, team officials confirmed Boupendza would reach Cincinnati during the coming weekend. He would begin training early next week, and the club is likely to train Monday ahead of a midweek match at New York Red Bulls.

Prior to the developments revealed Friday, Noonan addressed Boupendza's delayed arrival during his Thursday news conference. He cited ongoing difficulties trying to get the player into the country, adding that FC Cincinnati officials did everything possible to facilitate an on-time arrival.

"With Aaron, (we) expected an earlier arrival. It didn't happen. I think, you know, it's out of our control," Noonan said. "I'd love to say that we could have more impact on it but if you saw the work that was being done to make sure that he was in as early as possible, I think on our end making sure that we put him in a position to get here as early as possible, that was done but sometimes it's just out of your control. That can be frustrating but he'll arrive soon . . . In this particular case, I'm no expert. What I will say is you can do a lot of things right for your player to depart, to come back but the reality is once documents are in people's hands, what's to say that they don't go through the protocol that you'd expect and there's no hiccups?

"Again, sometimes I'm confused as to why it's so challenging to get players' arrivals but I also think we're limited in how many people we have working on that process league-wide. You have 29 teams and how many immigration lawyers? How many people are dealing with calls every day to get players, staff members the proper paperwork to be working here. So, it's, for me, it's something that has to improve but there's certain aspects where I understand the complications of it. It's certainly frustrating."

The turf monster

Noonan probably doesn't like talking about the fact that FC Cincinnati has historically struggled on synthetic playing surfaces. To be fair to him, most of those struggles were overseen by other managers in the club's history. But the history of troubled outcomes on artificial turf is also Noonan's history, too.

FC Cincinnati is still looking for a road win on artificial turf for the first time since March 24, 2019 – the fourth game in club history – at the New England Revolution's Gillette Stadium. FC Cincinnati played home matches in 2019 and 2020 seasons on the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium turf but since then, FCC is 0-7-4 on road turf.

That includes a drab, 2-0 loss to Charlotte in swirling winds at Bank of America Stadium in March 2022 with Noonan presiding over the match.

"The bounce, the way the ball moves," Noonan described of the challenges turf presents. "It's different type of game than you see on grass . . . How the ball moves and how it checks up in direct play. We've seen enough of those games now to have an understanding of what's it's gonna look like but, like most things, you can talk a lot about it and prepare guys for it but when that moment comes, can you find success? We'll just deal with the conditions the same way we deal with every other games."

The game

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m., Saturday | Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte

Stream/radio: Apple TV/ESPN 1530

All-time series: FC Cincinnati and Charlotte FC split their first-ever meetings last season with one win apiece (1-1-0).

Cincinnati.com prediction: FC Cincinnati 3, Charlotte FC 1.

FC Cincinnati

Record: 13-2-5; 44 points, first in MLS Eastern Conference

Goals for: 32

Goals against: 21

Head coach: Pat Noonan - second season as head coach

Projected starting XI:

Roman Celentano, goalkeeper

Alvaro Barreal, left back

Yerson Mosquera, center back

Nick Hagglund, center back

Ian Murphy, center back

Santiago Arias, right back

Obinna Nwobodo, midfielder

Junior Moreno, midfielder

Luciano Acosta, midfielder

Dominique Badji, forward

Sergio Santos, forward

Charlotte FC

Record: 6-8-7, 10th place in MLS Eastern Conference

Goals for: 28

Goals against: 36

Head coach: Christian Lattanzio, second season at Charlotte FC

Projected starting XI:

Kristijan Kahlina, goalkeeper

Bill Tuiloma, right back

Guzmán Corujo, center back

Derrick Jones, center back

Nathan Byrne, left back

Karol Świderski, midfielder

Harrison Afful, midfielder

Ashley Westwood, midfielder

Kamil Jóźwiak, forward/winger

Enzo Copetti, forward

McKinze Gaines, forward/winger

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: MLS preview: FC Cincinnati prepares for punchy Charlotte FC