DC United vs Cincinnati

Audi Field is the venue as out-of-sorts DC United take on high-flying Cincinnati in a high-profile Major League Soccer showdown.

DC United’s rough patch continued last weekend as they dropped a halftime lead in a 2-2 draw at New York Red Bulls, extending their dreadful winless run in MLS to nine matches (D3, L6). You’d need to go back to the beginning of May for the Washington outfit’s last league victory, while they’ve not won at home since late April. Given the gravity of the crisis, it’s barely surprising that Troy Lesesne’s men start this round outside the playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. However, they trail 9th-placed Atlanta United by only four points. Confidence stems from the fact three of DC United’s four MLS triumphs have come on home turf. But they’re still among the worst hosts in the conference, with a dismal winless ratio of only 27%.

In the meantime, Cincinnati swiftly recovered from a gut-wrenching 2-1 home loss to New England Revolution, beating Dallas 1-0 on the road last weekend to stay within striking distance of Eastern Conference leaders Inter Miami. With a game in hand and only two points separating the teams, Cincinnati could be in for another top-table finish in the east. That’s largely thanks to their formidable form away from home. Having only lost once across ten MLS travels in 2024, including an eye-catching eight victories (D1), they’re by far the best traveling team in the division. Adding to Cincinnati’s confidence, they head into proceedings on a six-game winning run on hostile turf, looking to level up the overall H2H away record (W1, D1, L2).