FC Cincinnati spices up hotly anticipated ‘Hell is Real’ derby

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Things are heating up ahead of the first installment of the “Hell is Real” derby this year.

FC Cincinnati will face off against the Columbus Crew TQL Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

It’ll likely be another sellout crowd in Cincinnati, where FCC is 8-0 on the season.

The club, hoping for an “orange out,” announced on Monday a t-shirt collaboration with CincyShirts as well as a new menu of hot and spicy offerings tailor-made for the derby.

There’s plenty of history—and bad blood—between the FCC, one of the newest MLS teams, and the Crew, one of the oldest.

FC Cincinnati took the first matchup during the club’s historic 2017 U.S. Open Cup run that vaulted it into national prominence and helped it earn the MLS bid. But Columbus holds a 5-2-4 record overall and has won two of the last three.

If FCC ties or wins against CF Montréal at TQL on Wednesday, the club will take over first place in MLS following the New England Revolution’s loss last weekend.

Columbus, meanwhile, comes into the contest as a mid-tier Eastern Conference side, having won just four of its 11 matches.

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