FC Cincinnati vs. Toronto FC Prediction, Preview, and Odds - 9/11/21
Cincinnati vs. Toronto
The two last-place teams in the Eastern Conference face off Saturday with FC Cincinnati hosting Toronto FC.
Toronto is in last place in the East and only trail Cincinnati by two points. They are not only winless in their last seven matches but have lost their last four. To say their defense has struggled on the season would be an understatement. They have given up the most goals in MLS (47) and Cincy has given up the second most at 38. Earlier this season at home Toronto was blanked by Cincinnati losing 2-0.
Cincinnati has lost their last three matches and they are winless in their last 12. They have not won since late June where they beat Toronto. Not only has their D struggled on the season but they are tied with Austin FC only scoring 21 goals in 21 matches.
Bad side of 3-1, Again
In Toronto’s last match they were on the road and lost to Montreal 3-1 and they also lost their previous game 3-1. In the 3-1 loss to CF Montreal, they played a man down for nearly the entire match with Noble Okello picking up a red card in the fifth minute. Ifunanyachi Achara scored the lone goal in a match where they were thumped losing the time of possession battle 60% to 40%, were outshot a whopping 19-3, and only had two shots on target while Montreal had 10. In the loss to Cincy in late June Toronto only had three shots and only one on target.
Jonathan Osorio leads the Toronto “attack” with four goals and Ayo Akinola is the only other player on the club with more than two goals with three. Alejandro Pozuelo leads them with four assists. They have been outscored 8-4 in losing their last four matches where they scored one goal in each one. Toronto has been hit hard by injuries on the season with several players out and Tsubasa Endoh and Dom Dwyer are each listed as questionable for the Cincy match with lower-body injuries.
Giving it Up Late
FC Cincinnati was at home in their last match facing Inter Miami and it looked like it would end in a scoreless draw but they gave up a goal in the 90th minute. They played good defense in the loss, which they did not do in their previous two matches conceding five goals. In the 1-0 loss to Miami, the time of possession, shots, and shots on target was nearly even and Cincy only allowed one shot on target it ended in a goal. In their last eight matches, they did not score a goal in five of them.
Brenner and Luciano Acosta have combined for nine goals to lead Cincinnati and Luciano Acosta is the team leader with five assists. DF Zico Bailey and FW Joseph-Claude Gyau are both listed as questionable for the Toronto match.
Pick: Toronto
Both teams are not in form, which is no shock for the two teams with the fewest points in MLS. Toronto has conceded the most goals, by far, in the MLS while Cincy giving up the second-most and they are also tied for scoring the fewest goals. Each team has issues all over the pitch. Toronto’s defense has conceded three goals in each of their last two matches and Cincinnati has gone scores in five of their last eight matches. Cincinnati beat Toronto north of the border in late-June and I look for them to get the W on their home pitch in this match. Their defense was solid in their last match and I think they will build on that. This will be a match mainly played in the midfield with few scoring chances but host Cincy will come out on top and beat Toronto for a rare W.
Total: Under
I am leaning towards the Under in this match even though Toronto FC has given up the most goals in MLS and three in each of their last two matches. They will be facing a Cincinnati offense is tied for scoring the fewest goals in the league. These teams combined for few shots on target earlier in the season in the 2-0 Cincinnati win in Toronto and I look for that to happen again. The total for that game went Under and this one will go Under again, as I do not see either club scoring multiple goals.