Week 4 Game Preview: Charlotte v. Cincinnati
The Crown is back in action this Saturday at 7:30 pm as FC Cincinnati comes to town for a battle between the Queen Cities. Charlotte is looking to rebound after a tough 1-0 loss at Inter Miami. Despite the loss, Charlotte currently sits in 6th place in the Eastern Conference and a win on Saturday could see them jump Cincinnati who are in 4th place.
Some pre-match news: Another defender is on his way to Charlotte as the club announced the loan of Souleyman Doumbia from Standard Liege from the Belgian Pro League. Doumbia will be in Charlotte until the end of the year as the loan expires on December 31st. A Paris native, Doumbia started in the PSG academy and also played for French side Stade Rennais. He has some familiarity with players currently in the Queen City as he was teammates with Djibril Diani at Grasshopper Club Zurich where he played 52 times. Wilfred Zaha has also played with Souleyman as the two were teammates for the Ivory Coast at the 2019 AFCON Tournament. At the international level, Doumbia has been capped eight times.
Two players have been called up by Mauricio Pochettino for the Concacaf Nations League semifinal on March 20th as the U.S. takes on Panama. Striker Patrick Agyemang made his national team debut in January where he scored two goals. Defender Tim Ream will add to his 67 international appearances after this call-up. Charlotte is one of five teams with two players selected and the only MLS side, joining AC Milian, Juventus, Celtic, and Zaha’s former club Crystal Palace. Not a bad club for Charlotte to be in.
Coming into the match, both Charlotte and Cincinnati have scored four goals with Charlotte allowing three to Cincinnati’s four. The match should be a tight one as both teams are close in the table. I think a key for a Charlotte victory is defense and goalkeeping. If Khalina can keep up his level of play and the defense can hold their shape, I think the boys have a good chance of grabbing three points. I would like to see the offense get going early. If Charlotte can go into the break with a lead, I think the defense will be able to hold off Cincinnati and grab three points. I don’t expect any changes to the starting XI that we’ve seen the past two games but I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing someone else start in the midfield over Westwood. I know it can be difficult to bench the guy wearing the armband, but I think that could provide a bit more speed in the attacking and build up side in the middle of the pitch. I think Tim Ream holds down his spot on the left, but I think Doumbia will get some chances once he gets stateside and integrated in the squad and he could split time with Ream.
As for my prediction, I think Charlotte draws this match. I think Cincinnati scores around the 20 minute mark and Zaha levels it coming out of the half to put the score at 1-1. The boys are home again next week as San Jose comes to town for a 7:30 kickoff on the 22nd.