Head Coach Alan Koch made a season-high seven changes to the FC Cincinnati starting lineup ahead of Saturday night’s match at the San Jose Earthquakes.
Kenny Saief, Frankie Amaya, Forrest Lasso, Przemysław Tytoń, Fatai Alashe, Justin Hoyte and Victor Ulloa are the new additions to the starting lineup. Roland Lamah, Nick Hagglund, Spencer Richey, Allan Cruz, Leo Bertone, Eric Alexander and Alvas Powell were replaced.
Noticeable changes in the starting lineup
Frankie Amaya will make his first MLS start Saturday night. Previously, he’s made two substitute appearances and was then loaned to Orange County SC. Back with Cincinnati against San Jose, he’s expecting roughly 20 friends and family at the match.
Additionally, Fatai Alashe makes his first start this season – and against his old club. Alashe made 85 appearances for San Jose before joining FC Cincinnati last July in the USL Championship. He’s made two appearances this season. This is his first start with FCC in MLS.
Noticeable available substitutes
Fanendo Adi is available to play for the first time since March 17. Then, he suffered an ankle injury. Later, he missed time with a legal matter.
With Nick Hagglund on the bench, Matheiu Deplagne is the only player to start all 11 FC Cincinnati matches this season. If he plays the full match, he’ll be the only player with 990 minutes played this year.
Notable absences
Bertone isn’t in the 18 and is being rested. When he joined FCC, he was midway through his Swiss League with BSC Young Boys. As a result, missing the match is a chance to rest before Cincinnati hosts the Montreal Impact next week at Nippert Stadium. At the end of the MLS season, he’ll have played a year and a half straight with no break, so the cross-country trip - while on four yellows - was a good time to get some rest before the skate of games leading up to the Gold Cup break.
Alvas Powell is not in the 18 with an ankle injury. He also flew home to Cincinnati after the Philly game. Greg Garza (calf) and Corben Bone (shoulder) were also not healthy enough for selection.
