MLS leaders Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati meet at TQL Stadium

FC Cincinnati fans started watching the scores early this season, months ago, and for good reason.

From the start of the 2024 season in February, Major League Soccer’s results and performances largely foreshadowed that a different kind of Supporters’ Shield race was coming, and that’s what happened.

The months-long dominance of the 2023 season culminated in FC Cincinnati’s triumph in the Supporters’ Shield last season. FCC clinched its first major trophy with just a few games remaining, and no real challenger has emerged since May. In contrast, the 2024 season has produced a fascinating race involving multiple clubs from both conferences, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Heading into Saturday’s series of games, the top five clubs in the standings were within seven points of each other. Two of those clubs will meet Saturday at TQL Stadium, as Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati will face off in a battle between the current No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the standings.

The game (7:30 p.m.) is one of the biggest in TQL Stadium history, even considering the multitude of high-profile American football, cup and postseason games the venue has seen.

A win for Cincinnati (14-4-3, 45 points) would allow it to overtake Miami (14-3-5, 47 points) for MLS supremacy, even if it would be by a narrow margin. A win for Miami would allow it to catch some breath at the top of the league, which would be welcome given that FC Cincinnati has been chasing it closely for weeks.

Both clubs are star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-star-stars-scarcely-in-the-showdown, and Lionel Messi won’t be there. But the matchup between defending Supporters’ Shield champions FC Cincinnati and current Shield favorites Miami won’t necessarily be driven by individual star power.

“As far as this game in particular, I think it loses its appeal for obvious reasons,” FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan told the Enquirer at Audi Field on Wednesday. “You have Messi gone. You have Luis Suarez gone. You have key injuries like Matt Miazga. We didn’t expect Miles Robinson to come back, but now Miles is back … you’re just missing key pieces in a Supporters’ Shield race with teams at the top, so it’s a disappointing game. But those are the cards that are dealt to both teams and you try to play. Both teams did it very strongly.”

“I think their depth is coming through and the XI they are still able to field is quality. They have put together a very strong team, and I think we have too. That’s why we are both in a position where we are able to win games despite these absences.”

A New Frontier for FC Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati is looking over its shoulder in a race for the Supporters Shield for the first time and hosting games against direct rivals across the street.

When FC Cincinnati looks in the rearview mirror, it doesn’t just look at one or two teams. Right now, the Shield race is between five clubs, with three Western Conference teams – Los Angeles FC, Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake – all looking like high-class, viable Shield contenders.

This means that each week is a real pressure cooker for all participants. One misstep, or one point picked up late in the race, could decide a team’s fate in the race.

“It seems like we can’t have any disappointments. We can’t have a bad week or it’s going to change the race for the Supporters’ Shield, which right now there are a lot of teams that can go after that trophy,” Noonan said. “Now, the position we’re in (and) Miami has been consistent and winning. You’ve got LAFC and the Galaxy out west that have caught fire. RSL has been there for a while.”

The face-off FC Cincinnati will host on Saturday is unlike any other home game in team history.

While there are 13 regular season games remaining at FCC and that leaves plenty of time for shake-ups in the Shield race, there was not a single head-to-head clash last season that had the immediate implications for the Shield race that the Miami matchup appears to have.

“Last year, because of the lead we had and when we won, it was on the road and against a team (Toronto) that was out of the playoff race,” Noonan said. “The energy, the atmosphere is not the same as if you’re in a title race in any league in any country and it’s down to the last few weeks. I feel like that’s what’s going to happen. I hope we’re involved. Whether we’re involved or not, I think all the teams I mentioned are all there, and it’s going to make for an interesting end to the season.”

“The pressure is a little bit higher… It just changes the pressure, the excitement and how you go about winning. That’s what would be different from 2024.”

FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami Staff In and Out

The list of unavailable players that Noonan alluded to on Wednesday is indeed long. Lionel Messi (Copa America), Luis Suarez (Copa America), Jordi Alba (suspension) and Diego Gomez (suspension) are absent for Miami.

For FC Cincinnati, Miazga is out for the season, as is Nick Hagglund. FC Cincinnati confirmed Hagglund’s placement on the season-ending injury list in a press release Friday. Hagglund, who broke his fibula in a June 22 loss to the New England Revolution, also required reconstructive ankle ligament surgery, team officials said. Hagglund is expected to rejoin the club in the 2025 preseason.

But there are still stars on the pitch. For Miami, these are former midfield master Sergio Busquets and 19-year-old Benjamin Cremaschi.

Many pundits expected Miami to collapse during this stretch of the regular season. Busquets, Cremaschi and other players from what is now considered a well-constructed Miami team helped the club maintain its position atop MLS during the long-awaited absences of Messi and Suarez for the Copa America tournament.

Miami had won four straight games heading into Cincinnati. Three of those games were away from home and two games were won by goals scored in the 86th minute or later.

With 24 goals between Messi and Suarez, Leo Campana is the team’s top available scorer with five goals. Robert Taylor, who has flourished since Messi’s arrival in 2023, has four goals.

Besides Messi and Suarez, ten Miami players have scored a goal this year, and Julian Gressel is the best offensive facilitator available with nine assists.

FC Cincinnati has struggled to produce results without Miazga and Hagglund in its last two games, but it has managed to do so nonetheless.

When the United States Men’s National Team was controversially eliminated from the Copa America in the group stage of the competition, FCC immediately snapped up the services of USMNT center back Miles Robinson. Robinson saw the USMNT eliminated from the Copa America on Monday night, arrived in the Washington D.C. area on Tuesday night and started the next day’s 3-2 victory on an uneven playing surface.

Cincinnati won twice on the road before hosting Miami, tying an MLS record for consecutive away wins (seven). FCC is also a league-best 9-1-1 away from TQL Stadium.

Home results have been harder to come by. Cincinnati has yet to give its fans the home dominance it did in the Shield-winning 2023 season, going 5-3-2 in the West End.

“I was thinking about it the other night,” FC Cincinnati defender and former Inter Miami player DeAndre Yedlin said of the club’s home form. “Honestly, I don’t know what the difference is. The only difference is probably that we’re staying in a hotel instead of at home… On the road, we’ve been great, excellent. At home, I haven’t really put my finger on it yet, but it’s definitely something we have to fix, really. Not only are we letting these games slip away, we’re letting them slip away in front of our home fans.”

The game

To start up: 7:30 p.m. | TQL Stadium; Cincinnati

Broadcast: MLS Apple TV Season Pass

All-time series: Inter Miami leads the all-time series against FC Cincinnati with a 4-3-2 record.

FC Cincinnati DC United FC Cincinnati wins historic away game with 3-2 victory at DC United

FC Cincinnati

Record (MLS): 14-4-3, 45 points; Second place in the Eastern Conference

Objectives for: 36 (No. 2 in the East; tied for No. 7 in MLS)

Goals against: 25 (tied for 3rd in the East; tied for 4th in MLS)

The head coach:Pat Noonan, third season as head coach

Projected Starting Lineup: Roman Celentano, goalkeeper; DeAndre Yedlin, left back; Ian Murphy, center back; Kipp Keller, center back; Miles Robinson, center back; Luca Orellano, right back; Obinna Nowbodo, midfielder; Pavel Bucha, midfielder; Luciano Acosta, midfielder; Kevin Kelsy, forward; Gerardo Valenzuela, forward.

Inter Miami CF

Record (MLS): 14-3-5, 47 points; First in the Eastern Conference

Objectives for: 50 (No. 1 in the East; No. 1 in MLS)

Goals against: 31 (No. 8 in the East; No. 14 in MLS)

The head coach:Gerardo “Tata” Martino – second season as Miami head coach

Projected Starting Lineup: Drake Callender (GK); Noah Allen, left back; Serhiy Kryvtsov, center back; Tomás Avilés, center back; Marcelo Weigandt, right back; Sergio Busquets, midfielder; Robert Taylor, winger/forward; Leo Afonso, forward; Benjamin Cremaschi, midfielder/forward; Julian Gressel, winger/forward; Leo Campana, forward.