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There’s another great opportunity for Jason Kreis‘ Orlando City SC to gain even more momentum on Sunday evening as Seattle Sounders visit Camping World Stadium.
The Sounders’ first Major League Soccer visit to Central Florida, the CenturyLink Field-based outfit are currently under the interim charge of Brian Schmetzer.
Enduring a surprisingly poor season under the long serving Sigi Schmid who was sacked as Sounders head coach on July 26th, the Western Conference outfit are currently second bottom on 21 points from 21 games played.
Following Orlando City SC‘s first win in SIX games when defeating New England Revolution last time out, the Lions’ spirits have been raised again after some hard-fought points on the road prior to that.
Given we’re just one game into the Jason Kreis era at Camping World Stadium, morale is high with everybody is keen to impress and in all honesty, this is a game Orlando City SC should be realistically looking to gain another three points in.
Not only due to the fact that Sounders are struggling on the field at the minute but also due to the gruelling five hour, 40 minute flight down from Washington State to Central Florida.
Orlando City SC previously managed to take advantage of cross-country fatigue when defeating reigning MLS Champions Portland Timbers 4-1 back in April and the Lions will be hoping for another positive result here.
So as City look to step on the gas as they charge for the MLS Cup play-off spots, here’s all the stats that matter heading into Orlando City SC versus Seattle Sounders.
2015 head-to-head stats
While there were two meetings between Orlando City SC and Seattle Sounders Reserves back in USL Pro when the Lions were an affiliate of Sporting Kansas City, we’ve only faced Sounders’ first team ONCE in MLS.
Adrian Heath‘s Orlando City SC did the honours of making the long trip to CenturyLink Field back in August 2015 with Seattle Sounders travelling to Florida for the first time in Major League Soccer this year.
Unfortunately, it was a long trip to forget for Orlando City SC last season however with fatigue getting to the Lions in a rampant 4-0 victory for Sigi Schmid’s Sounders.
With the now departed Obafemi Martins bagging a brace on the day, Nelson Valdez and Thomás also found the net as Orlando City SC went under in a particularly tough period of last season with a 5-0 thumping at Toronto FC coming just six days later.
Seattle Sounders 4 Orlando City SC 0 – Highlights – August 16, 2015 (Credit: Seattle Sounders FC)
Orlando City SC form
Cyle Larin‘s 46th minute equaliser against New England Revolution quite literally turned our last game on its head and crucially gave Jason Kreis‘ Orlando City SC forward momentum.
Fortunately for Orlando City SC, the Canadian international is enjoying a purple patch right now having scored one goal in each of our last THREE Major League Soccer fixtures.
With his stock rising even higher with each and every goal, it is only natural that more and more admirers will circle with both Benfica and Sporting Lisbon reportedly interested but for as long as he’s in Orlando, we can’t get enough of Cyle Larin‘s goals.
Orlando City SC 3 New England Revolution 1 – Highlights – July 31, 2016 (Credit: New England Revolution)
That hugely forgettable 0-0 draw against Houston Dynamo aside, Orlando City SC are more than accustomed to scoring freely at home.
The Lions’ 3-1 victory over New England Revolution contributed to the fact that Orlando City SC have now scored AT LEAST TWO GOALS in FIVE of their last SIX MLS fixtures.
With Kevin Molino now contributing goals on a regular basis as well, this can only prove positive in our MLS Cup play-off charge.
And so our proud undefeated home record at Camping World Stadium goes on!
That 0-2 home loss to New York Red Bulls seems ever so long ago now and that’s because it actually was – over a year ago now on July 19th 2015 to be precise!
Jason Kreis will know that picking up three point hauls instead of one at home will be crucial in our MLS Cup play-off hunt and a wounded Seattle Sounders side look a favourable opponent on paper right now.
While we mentioned that Orlando City SC took advantage of cross-country fatigue to thrash Portland Timbers 4-1 back in April, this is still the ONLY Western Conference side the Lions have defeated so far in 2016.
Again, draws have been the order of the day here as City tied with Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo and Vancouver Whitecaps while losing out to Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas.
Seattle Sounders form
Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer will know that his team has it all on to achieve a victory at Camping World Stadium on Sunday night.
After all, Seattle Sounders have failed to win TWELVE of their last THIRTEEN away fixtures in Major League Soccer which serves to underline part of the reason why Sigi Schmid was relieved of his duties late last month.
Nevertheless, Orlando City SC will have to keep a close eye on the Sounders’ new mid-season Designated Player purchase Nicolás Lodeiro who enjoyed an impressive debut against LA Galaxy last weekend.
Seattle Sounders 1 LA Galaxy 1 – Highlights – July 31, 2016 (Credit: Seattle Sounders FC)