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Downbeat after our 1-2 loss to Atlanta United, Orlando City SC stay at home to take on Jim Curtin’s Philadelphia Union at Orlando City Stadium.
Having faced the Pennsylvania-based side twice so far this season both in league and cup, this is a huge fixture for The U who are aiming to stay above the red line to reach the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Currently fifth in the Eastern Conference standings with 39 points after 26 games played, Union are trying to reach the post-season for only the third time in club history.
With Philadelphia Union reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs in both 2011 and 2016, Orlando City SC are well out of the playoff picture but with less pressure on their shoulders as a result, perhaps the Lions can perform with less anxiety.
That said, James O’Connor will still want to see his side perform with the same hunger and determination of a side battling for post-season qualification.
After all, this current Orlando City SC roster are playing for their futures right now with the regular season reaching its conclusion at the end of next month.
Since his appointment in late June, James O’Connor would’ve been closely monitoring every single player on the Orlando City SC roster working out who has the ability and attributes to function in his system from 2019 onward.
This has reflected in his team choices with the Orlando City SC starting eleven being changed on a weekly basis, in part due to injuries but also due to O’Connor getting a good look at everybody.
While chopping and changing the squad is counterproductive to team cohesion, it does enable the Lions boss to see who exactly is truly fighting for their Orlando City SC future.
In what has been a hugely disappointing 2018 campaign that promised so much, let’s hope Orlando City SC can keep their heads high and perform with passion and pride in the league fixtures remaining.
They owe our loyal band of supporters that!
2015/18 head-to-head stats
Orlando City SC were denied a place in the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semi-finals for the very first time when a single Alejandro Bedoya goal proved the difference in July.
Travelling to Talen Energy Stadium for a quarter-final clash with Philadelphia Union in James O’Connor’s third game in charge, Bedoya’s tap-in came as early as the fourth minute.
Despite having over 80 minutes to find a reply, an equaliser just didn’t come from an Orlando City SC side who had temporarily lifted spirits with a 2-1 win over Toronto FC just four days earlier.
Philadelphia Union 1 Orlando City SC 0 – Highlights – July 18, 2018 (Credit: UTC FOOTBALL TV)
Almost four complete years into Orlando City SC‘s MLS journey, there is literally nothing to choose between both teams with mirror imagery across the wins, draws and losses spectrum.
In 2018 however, both teams’ seasons have gone in completely different directions since the last league meeting back in April.
Still Orlando City SC’s most complete performance all season long, late first-half goals from Dom Dwyer and Chris Mueller took the game away from the home side at Talen Energy Stadium in a commanding 0-2 victory.
The way in which the Lions controlled the second-half after seizing the initiative was reassuring and something that has been in all too short supply ever since.
A one-time Orlando City SC player having made four USL appearances for the Lions in a loan spell back in 2013, C. J. Sapong has done nothing but haunt City in MLS.
The United States international striker seems to enjoy facing Orlando City SC more than most with the 29-year-old scoring in THREE of the last SIX head-to-heads in MLS.
This equates to FOUR goals with two of these coming in a 6-1 hammering of City at Talen Energy Stadium in the final game of 2017.
Orlando City SC form
With Leandro González Pírez and Josef Martínez finding the net against Orlando City SC in our 1-2 loss to Atlanta United, this was the sixth game in a row that the Lions have conceded AT LEAST TWO GOALS.
A real concern for James O’Connor will be the huge drop in form of Joe Bendik who looks a shadow of the player who looked close to USMNT recognition throughout late 2016 and 2017.
Gifting González Pírez his goal by spilling Ezequiel Barco’s free-kick and going to ground too early to deny Martínez his record-breaking 28th goal in MLS this season, Joe is in desperate need of a confidence boost.
Defensively, Orlando City SC have been a mess all season and long currently sitting on 59 goals conceded, this is the worst record in all of Major League Soccer right now.
Orlando City SC 1 Atlanta United 2 – Highlights – August 24, 2018 (Credit: Atlanta United FC)
Philadelphia Union
Jim Curtin’s Philadelphia Union have put their foot on the gas right when it mattered this 2018 Major League Soccer season.
Winning their last FOUR consecutive MLS fixtures, even more impressive is the fact they’ve won all of the last THREE games ‘to nil’.
Overcoming New York City FC (2-0), New England Revolution (1-0) and most recently D.C. United (0-2) on Wednesday evening, Union are extremely hot right now.
It’s this kind of form that could potentially make the Pennsylvania side a dangerous proposition in the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, something few people were tipping The U for at the start of the season.
D.C. United 0 Philadelphia Union 2 – Highlights – August 29, 2018 (Credit: Philadelphia Union)