For the first time since the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, FC Cincinnati return to New York and look to earn a victory after being defeated in Round One of the playoffs last fall. The Orange and Blue ride a five-game winning streak into this match and a six-match undefeated streak, so to continue that run, FCC will need to win its fourth consecutive road match of the season.

The host venue for this, Major League Baseball's Citi Field in Queens, New York, is unique in that it is the atypical home for New York City FC – who most often call Yankee Stadium in the Bronx their own. Both fields, though, given the restrictions of an MLB ballpark, are notable for their narrow field dimensions. At just 70 feet wide, the pitch that runs from the right field to the third base line is five feet narrower than any other stadium in MLS, and thus, creates a unique field on which to play. And could, in theory, alter the matches' gameplay in notable ways.

"We have so many new faces. If you just look at Kévin (Denkey) and Evande, Brian (Anunga)…Lukas (Engel), Gilberto (Flores), I can name a few more, but this will be the first time with our group going on to a field with the optics that we'll see and the different dimensions," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan explained on Friday in his pre-match press conference. "So we've trained with their dimensions all week. Where we talk about it a lot is set pieces, the delivery of how quickly it arrives in front of goal. How we could use it to our advantage, but then just how pressure arrives. Everything happens a little bit faster, so your speed of thought, your touch, all of these things have to be a little bit sharper."

FC Cincinnati, for the first time this season, had a full team in training this week, with no absences due to injury or otherwise unavailability. The return of a full squad not only provides a new perspective on the team, potentially opening up new options for Noonan to go to on the weekend but highlights just how challenging the opening phase of the season has been while still getting consistent results.

"We talk a lot about dealing with whatever comes our way. We got to deal with it, whether that is how they press and how they attack and how the pitches look, whatever it is, we've just got to adapt," defender Lukas Engel said after training Friday. "I think we've been really good at it…I think it's just how we look at things."

FC Cincinnati enter this match sitting top of the Eastern Conference table and second in the Supporters' Shield race behind only the Vancouver Whitecaps. A win could see the Canadian Club swap places with FCC, but for the players, Engel says the priority for them is focusing on themselves to win matches and improve, and not table watching.

"I don't think we've been particularly great, really. I think we've been doing well in terms of getting the job done, but I think we're far from our best yet, which is a positive thing, getting wins when we're not playing the best we can play. But I think now the determination and the will to win has been huge for us," Engel explained. "We had a few injuries, and haven't really had a full squat yet. We just need to be ready to compete."

FC CINCINNATI at New York City Football Club – Sunday, May 4, 2025 – 3:00 p.m. ET – Citi Field

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Against NYCFC

Sunday marks the first meeting of 2025 between FC Cincinnati and New York City FC after the clubs faced off six times last season - FCC’s most matches against any one opponent in one year in club history. The Orange and Blue led the head-to-head 3-2-1 in the six meetings across MLS play (2), Leagues Cup (1) and three MLS Cup Playoffs Round One matches.

But, the Orange and Blue seek revenge over the club which ended their 2024 season in a 6-5

shootout defeat after Game 3 of the MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Best-of-3 series.

FC CINCINNATI NOTES

Six Straight – FC Cincinnati are looking for a sixth straight victory Sunday against New York City FC. The current streak of five wins in a row is the third of it's kind in club history and could join the streak earned in 2023 as the second longest in club hisotry. Should FC Cincinnati sucsessfuly extend their streak, they could equalize their club record seven game win streak next week at home when they host Austin FC at TQL Stadium.

Perfect April – A win Saturday would give FC Cincinnati a perfect 4-0-0 April. Excluding months with fewer than three games played, FC Cincinnati have only secured a perfect month twice before in league play: May 2023 (5-0-0) and September 2018 when the then-USL Orange and Blue went 6-0-0. A win or draw Saturday secures the ninth month in FC Cincinnati’s 10-season history with a win percentage of .800 or higher.

200 and Counting – FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan is one point shy of 200 points as head coach of The Orange and Blue (57-27-28, 199 points). With a win or draw Sunday, he would reach 200 points in just 113 games managed, only behind Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino (109 games with ATL, MIA) for the fewest games needed to reach the mark in MLS history.

Sunday Afternoon – Sunday will be the 29th match for FC Cincinnati (since 2019) to be played on a Sunday, the first since March 17, 2024 at New England. The Orange and Blue are 3-1-3 in matches on Sunday dating back to a 5-2 win at D.C. United on Decision Day 2022.

SCOUTING New York City Football Club (4-4-2, 14 Points, 9th in Eastern Conference)

After an up-and-down start to the season, NYCFC plays host to Cincinnati while riding a streak of their own with a win in two of their last three matches. The New York-based club who typically call the Bronx home have struggled on the road to the tune of one win in six road matches, but their form at home has been an entirely different story.

With a 3-1-0 record at home, NYCFC have been one of the best in the league on their own grass – despite that grass being a little nomadic as the club shifts between Yankee Stadium and Citi Field based on availability. Historically speaking, the strong home form has been a theme for NYCFC, who, in five of their last six full seasons, have won 10+ games at home.

Part of NYCFC's success has come from their ability to build a strategy around their home grounds. With both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field measuring as the shortest and narrowest fields in Major League Soccer, NYCFC has built an attack around capitalizing on that and making other teams uncomfortable in the meantime.

The grounds may be familiar to NYCFC, but they are under new management from the last time FCC saw them. The club parted ways with Nick Cushing this offseason and hired Pascal Jansen to take the lead as Head Coach in early January. Jansen, 51, is English-born with a Dutch heritage who has seen great success leading clubs in the Eredivisie and Hungary before coming to the USA. With appearances in the UEFA Champions League, Conference League and Europa League, Jensen has led AZ Alkmaar and Ferencvárosi TC prior to joining NYCFC.

Through 10 matches this season, the new manager has been fairly consistent in his formations, playing with a four-at-the-back defense. Most often, the team has gone with a 4-2-3-1 formation, but at times, they have gone with a 4-3-3 formation.

At the top of that formation sits Alonso Martinez, who leads NYCFC this season with 6 goals. Martinez, 26, joined NYCFC in 2023 and has quickly become a top scorer for the squad.

"He's very deceptive and creative in his movements, the timing of his runs, how he uses his body. You know, because if you just look at the stature, he's not a, you know, one of the bigger, more physical forwards or attackers in general in our league, but how he uses his body to gain an advantage, how he gets a step on a defender to create shots, I think he's clean with both feet. He can score with his head. He can just beat you in a lot of different ways," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said of the forward in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning. "I remember we looked at him years ago all the way back (as a coach in Philadelphia) and he was impressive many years ago. So it's not a surprise to see the success that he's had."

While NYCFC have a new Head Coach much of the team from the 2024 season has remained in place. So, while new coaching ideas and tactics may somewhat impact the match, having that personal knowledge to fall back on should be helpful for FC Cincinnati.

"You see a lot of consistency in the personnel, so I don't think a lot has changed from who we anticipate seeing on the field," Noonan explained. "There's a couple new faces, and always, when you have a new coach with new ideas there's differences in the playing style. But I think a lot has been similar, I think."

"At times, even more direct than we've seen in the past, where they've adapted to maybe the opponents pressing and utilize direct play a little bit…[Maxi] Moralez is still a very good player. Each year that goes by, you wonder how he's still doing it at the level (he is). Kind of orchestrates a lot of their plays. And technically, from, you know, front to back, they're strong, and they can play under pressure, and they can break teams down one-v-one, or individual moments one-v-one where running to goal they become very tough to play against.”