St. Louis CITY SC returns to CITYPARK this Saturday, April 15 for Matchday 8 of the MLS season against FC Cincinnati. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and the match will be televised on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and broadcasted by our radio partners on KYKY Y98.1 FM (English) and KXOK 102.9 FM (Spanish).
Despite a strong first half performance, St. Louis CITY SC fell 3-0 against Seattle Sounders last weekend, resulting in their second defeat of the season. Despite the loss, CITY SC has 15 points which is tied with LAFC (2018) for the best start by an MLS expansion team in league history through seven matches.
St. Louis CITY SC’s high pressure has forced an MLS-high 79 turnovers within 40 meters of the opponent's goal. St. Louis has turned those high turnovers into shots 17 times, with its three goals off high turnovers tied with LAFC for the most in MLS.
St. Louis CITY SC leads the league in shots on target (40) and has a 40.8% shooting percentage, good for third-best in MLS. CITY SC has racked up 84 interceptions through seven games this season, which ranks sixth-best in the league.
Midfielder Eduard Löwen has made a team-high 14 tackles so far this season, which is good for seventh best in the league and is joined by John Nelson (13), Tomáš Ostrák (11) and Indiana Vassilev (11), making CITY SC the only club in MLS with four players with 11 or more tackles so far this season.
Defender John Nelson is set to go up against a few familiar faces should he lineup this weekend against FC Cincinnati. The defender played for the visitors last season and recorded two assists in 24 regular season games. Nelson has started every game so far this season for CITY SC and has logged the second most minutes (626) on the team behind goalkeeper Roman Bürki.
FC Cincinnati comes into the matchup on a good run of form and has a league-high 17 points through seven games (5-2-0 record), which is the club's best start to a season. FC Cincinnati has kept five clean sheets in its last six matches, including the last three straight matches. Cincinnati's last three matches have all been 1-0 victories, the 11th team to do that in a single season. FC Cincinnati has played expansion teams three times in club history, winning its only home match versus Charlotte FC and losing both road matches at Inter Miami and Charlotte FC.
