FC Cincinnati stressing better home form prior to facing Sounders

FC Cincinnati will try to improve their exceptional home record and extend their league unbeaten run to four matches on Saturday night when they host the sliding Seattle Sounders.

Cincinnati (8-6-6, 30 points) has posted a 7-2-1 record at home this season, good for third-best in the Eastern Conference.

And after Evander's stoppage-time strike in a 2-1 win over New York City FC on Wednesday night, Cincy moved up to fifth place in the East, a point above Charlotte and three beneath New England.

But for manager Pat Noonan, Evander's individual heroism and team-leading 12th goal this season masked an underwhelming performance. He even suggested that perhaps the club's strong home form was at least partly good fortune rather than a sign of true dominance.

"The results make it feel that way, but I think we can perform better," Noonan said. "Wednesday was a good indication of that, where, of course, NYC's a strong team and the result went in our favor, but how are we more dominant in our play, in making teams uncomfortable? ... We do feel that we need to make (our stadium) a harder place to play."

The Sounders (7-9-3, 24 points) would love to have Cincinnati's problems. Instead, the two-time MLS Cup champions and perennial Western Conference contenders enter in 12th place in their conference amid an eight-match league losing streak.

An injury crisis has been one culprit, with attackers Jordan Morris (quad), Jesus Ferreira (hamstring) and Cristian Roldan (quad) among those recently unavailable. Roldan is questionable to face Cincinnati, while the others have been ruled out.

They've been competitive in several of those defeats, losing four by a single goal and conceding more than two goals only twice. But they've scored only four times during this slump.

"We're definitely down right now just because of the stretch that we're in," said striker Danny Musovski, who has only one league goal after posting 14 in 2025. "We're just trying to stay positive, try to focus on the little things, the basics, set pieces, and prepare for a really good Cincinnati team.

"The messaging from the coaches is to just keep things simple, not to overthink, not to panic and try to do too much."

--Field Level Media