Pat Noonan urged his FC Cincinnati team to improve their discipline ahead of a trip to the Bank of America Stadium to take on Charlotte FC this weekend. 

Cincinnati beat the Chicago Fire 3-2 last time out, but had to play much of the second half with 10 men after Kyle Smith was shown a straight red card. 

Smith's 56th-minute dismissal was Cincinnati's fifth of 2026 so far, the joint-most across both divisions alongside Western Conference outfit Houston Dynamo. 

And the red mist has often descended over the Orange and Blue during this fixture, with Cincinnati receiving four red cards in their eight meetings with Charlotte, while they have never won in four road trips against the Crown (D2 L2).

"There's a lot [we have to do] because we haven't done much well at their place, and they've been very consistent in what they do, how they play, and they're tough to play against on both sides of the ball," Noonan said. 

"As a starting point, we look at the current group, too many red cards, playing down a man too often.

"I think the last three games against Charlotte, we have had a man sent off home and away, so that was a theme in previous games. I'd like to see us finish the game 11 on 11.

"But it's a tough place to play, and they're a very experienced team. When you have an experienced group, an experienced coach, I imagine they're not going to be too rattled, frustrated, with results. They'll be strong, they'll be ready to go."

Charlotte, meanwhile, saw their slide down the Eastern Conference continue as they were beaten by the New England Revolution 1-0 in their last MLS encounter. 

Carles Gil's late penalty handed Dean Smith's side their third consecutive league defeat, leaving them one point and one place below Cincinnati in seventh. 

It was a game that saw Charlotte have their chances, most notably when Idan Toklomati rattled the woodwork in the 37th minute, but the Crown were unable to find a way past Matt Turner despite registering an expected goals (xG) total of 1.1 from nine shots. 

Smith was pleased with the performance at Gillette Stadium, but he acknowledged some areas of his team's play must improve before the World Cup break. 

"I thought we performed well, the players pressed extremely well," Smith said when asked what positives he would take from the defeat to New England. 

"We won the ball back when we needed to, and we didn't give chances away, or too many chances. We used the ball really well and created some good chances. 

"But, we must improve on what we did, but also know that the opposition is going to play a little bit differently as well."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Charlotte – Pep Biel

Despite not being on target against New England, Biel was the standout player for Charlotte, finishing with team-high totals for chances created (three) and passes in the final third (26).

He has nine goal involvements (five goals, four assists) this season, more than any other Charlotte player, and he will be key to getting his team back on track.

Cincinnati – Evander

Evander scored his first career MLS hat-trick in last Saturday's win, including the winner from the penalty spot in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time.

It was the eighth hat-trick scored by a Brazilian in MLS and the fourth for Cincinnati, with the others coming from Brenner (three) and Evander (one).

MATCH PREDICTION: CHARLOTTE WIN

Charlotte have won three straight matches against Cincinnati after winning just one of the first five meetings (D2 L2). The Crown are one of two teams to defeat Cincinnati in three straight regular-season matches since the start of the 2023 season.

The Crown have, however, lost four straight matches in all competitions for the second time, also doing so from October 2022 to March 2023.

Charlotte have also failed to score in their last two matches but have never gone three straight games without a goal in all competitions.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, extended their regular-season unbeaten run to five matches (W2 D3) last time out despite having a player sent off. Cincinnati have won two matches when they have had a player dismissed this year after winning just three in total in their first seven MLS seasons.

Despite that, on the road, the Opta supercomputer makes Cincinnati outsiders. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Charlotte – 45.5%

Draw – 24.6%

Cincinnati – 29.9%