MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Visits FC Cincinnati in Leagues Cup

Published on July 21, 2023 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City will kick off play in Leagues Cup 2023 when the club visits MLS Supporters' Shield leaders FC Cincinnati at 6:30 p.m. CT on Sunday in the team's first ever trip to TQL Stadium.

The opening match for Group 3 of the Central Region between Sporting KC and FC Cincinnati will be free to watch on Apple TV in English and Spanish via MLS Season Pass. Local radio coverage will also air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with streams in the Sporting KC app. All of the action will also be shown by pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network, including a watch party at Jefferson's (14944 W 87th St.) in Lenexa, Kansas featuring $8 domestic pitchers, $4 blue shots and a $30 special for 20 wings and a Bud Light pitcher.

Leagues Cup 2023 will feature all 47 clubs from MLS (29 teams) and LIGA MX (18 teams) in a World Cup-style tournament with the top three teams qualifying for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. Every team will play two matches in the Group Stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the single-elimination Knockout Stage. Notably, no Leagues Cup matches in the Group Stage will end in a tie. Instead, matches tied after 90 minutes will proceed to a penalty shootout and the winner will earn an extra point in the group standings.

Sporting Kansas City is unbeaten in the team's only two previous matchups with FC Cincinnati - earning a 1-1 road draw in 2019 and a 1-0 road win in 2020 - but on Sunday will a far more formidable foe. Cincinnati finished last in the MLS standings in each of the club's first three seasons from 2019-2021 before hiring current head coach Pat Noonan, who led the team to the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2022 and now has Cincinnati sitting atop the MLS Supporters' Shield standings with a 15-2-6 record entering the club's first Concacaf competition.

With 51 points through 23 matches, FC Cincinnati is currently on pace to break the league's single-season points record set in 2021 by the New England Revolution with 73 points. Cincinnati's sensational season has been headlined by a near-perfect 14-0-1 home record in all competitions and a thrilling run in the U.S. Open Cup to secure a semifinal match-up with Inter Miami CF next month.

FC Cincinnati's roster is led by three players - defender Matt Miazga, midfielder Alvaro Barreal and midfielder Luciano Acosta - who appeared in the MLS All-Star Game in Washington, D.C on Wednesday. In addition, forward Brandon Vazquez appeared in all five matches for the U.S. Men's National Team at the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer alongside Miazga and the club also recently added a Designated Player to their attack with the acquisition of Aaron Boupendza, who scored on his debut last weekend.

Acosta ranks second in Major League Soccer with 20 goal contributions this season after leading MLS with 19 assists a year ago. The club captain has a team-best 12 goals and eight assists, joining Sporting KC winger Daniel Salloi as two of only five MLS players to have tallied at least five goals and five assists each of the last three years.

Salloi is on the cusp of his 200th career appearance for Sporting in all competitions and is part of a Sporting KC attack that leads Major League Soccer with 28 goals since the start of May. Fellow forward Alan Pulido has a team-high 14 goal contributions (11 goals, three assists) in all competitions this year and his nine goals since the start of June are most in MLS.

Sporting Kansas City and FC Cincinnati are joined in Group 3 of the Central Region by 12-time LIGA MX Champions Chivas Guadalajara, who reached the Clausura final in May and currently sit in first place in Mexico with a perfect 3-0-0 start to the Apertura season. FC Cincinnati will host Chivas Guadalajara on July 27 at TQL Stadium before Sporting Kansas City hosts Chivas Gudalajara on July 31 at Children's Mercy Park in the final match of the Leagues Cup group stage.

LEAGUES CUP 2023 CENTRAL REGION GROUP 3 SCHEDULE

July 23: Sporting KC vs. FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium

July 27: Chivas Guadalajara vs. FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium

July 31: Sporting KC vs. Chivas Guadalajara at Children's Mercy Park

Check out the Sporting Kansas City Statistics

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