New York City Football Club will try for its first home-field win in four appearances when FC Cincinnati visits this Wednesday evening. The meeting kicks off inside Yankee Stadium at 7:30 p.m. EST.
MLS experts know that the Pigeons won’t lead the league in goals anytime soon. But they may not have anticipated NYCFC taking 92 minutes to score a consolation goal in the last round’s 2-1 loss to Charlotte. New York City squandered its first 22 attempted shots against the visiting Crown prior to Nicolas Fernandez’s tally in added time. The Pigeons haven’t earned a league win since beating Colorado 3-1 on March 14.
FC Cincinnati seeks its second win over NYCFC in seven meetings. To the delight of rival supporters, the Orange and Blue of 2026 are struggling worse against CONCACAF as a whole. Cincinnati has but one win across all competitions since February, blowing a large lead against Tigres UNAL to fall out in the Champions Cup while posting a minus-6 goal differential in domestic play. Cincinnati has drawn so many red-card bookings in the past five matches that its injury list is only the start of its lineup issues.
New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati Betting Trends
- FC Cincinnati has drawn red cards in four of its last five MLS games.
- New York City FC has been winless in its last three home games.
- Home teams covered ATS in just five of the last 17 meetings.
New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati Injury Reports
- Forward Alonso Martinez remains in rehab following ACL surgery.
- Defensive midfielder Andres Perea is out with a leg injury.
- Defender Max Murray is out with a lower-body injury.
- Defender Drew Baiera is out with a leg injury.
- Forward Kristian Fletcher is out with a knee injury.
- Defender Matthew Miazga is out with a leg injury.
- Midfielder Obinna Nwobodo is out with a leg injury.
New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati Predictions and Picks
It’s been a bummer of a year for Cincinnati soccer so far. The FIFA World Cup is skipping Ohio in favor of dates in Kansas City, where the inferior Sporting KC can be found playing its matches. Meanwhile, Cincy’s keeper, Roman Celentano, and his undisciplined back line have allowed an ugly 21 goals in the last six contests.
One Football makes an ironic remark about an emotional NYCFC-Charlotte clash, writing that New York “had 23 shots compared to the opposition’s eight. That is not acceptable.” It’s actually well and good to outshoot Charlotte by 15 strikes, but the troubling part was how little the Pigeons achieved in their statistically dominant effort. NYCFC cleanly executed over nine out of every 10 passes on Saturday.
For all the hand-wringing about New York City’s offense, recall that Fernandez sits among league leaders with half a dozen bags in the young MLS season. The Argentine’s eyes will light up at the prospect of playing against such a weak back-line as Cincinnati has on the pitch right now. Spread bettors can manipulate Wednesday’s odds for a score, or tack to the O/U line prior to a potential 4-1 result.
