After drawing 0-0 with Atlanta United in our 2021 home opener, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now fly west to face Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park.
The first of just two regular season fixtures against Western Conference opposition, the Lions will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start.
Last weekend, Orlando City SC and Atlanta United were far from their best on a boiling hot Central Florida day.
Perhaps this was to be expected however.
The Five Stripes were in CONCACAF Champions League action just days earlier. As for Orlando City SC, the Lions were contesting their first competitive game in over four months.
Nevertheless, Orlando City SC had opportunities to win the game with City debutant Alexandre Pato going close twice.
Lacking match sharpness to make these chances count, the Brazilian worryingly suffered a knee injury in the second-half.
Looking forward, Oscar Pareja will be hoping for a more cohesive performance at Sporting Kansas City.
Unfortunately, the Lions will again have to do without Mauricio Pereyra who is serving the final game of a two-match suspension carrying over from last season.
Last Saturday, Orlando City SC suffered a noticeable disconnect between midfield and attack in the Uruguayan’s absence.
Now playing in more favourable conditions, Pareja will demand a higher tempo at a venue we succeeded at last season.
However, Sporting Kansas City are buoyant heading into this cross-conference affair.
On MLS opening weekend, Peter Vermes’ side ran out 1-2 winners at New York Red Bulls courtesy of goals from Gadi Kinda and Dániel Sallói.
Sporting Kansas City vs Orlando City SC – 2015/20 head-to-head stats
The last time Orlando City SC faced Sporting Kansas City, Oscar Pareja‘s Lions secured a hugely impressive 1-2 victory at Children’s Mercy Park.
Quick-fire first-half goals from Tesho Akindele and Benji Michel within 120 seconds of each other put the away side en route to a noteworthy cross-conference triumph.
With Johnny Russell reducing the arrears to one by the 53rd minute, Orlando City SC could’ve panicked.
However, City’s newfound togetherness and resilience proved enough to secure all three points.
With Peter Vermes’ SKC sides proving a tough nut to crack over the years, this result made lots more MLS enthusiasts sit up and take notice of a vastly improved Orlando City SC.
Sporting Kansas City 1 Orlando City SC 2 – Highlights – September 23, 2020 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
A cross-conference MLS game series that is SIX games deep, Orlando City SC hold a one-win advantage over Sporting Kansas City right now.
When both these sides meet, we rarely get draws. Indeed, we’ve had just one since 2015 – a 2-2 draw at Exploria Stadium in May 2017.
Thus far, Orlando City SC have gone 1-0-2 when visiting Kansas with Peter Vermes’ side winning 2-1 in 2016 and 1-0 in 2018.
One man who Sporting Kansas City supporters will be sick of the sight of is Canadian forward Tesho Akindele.
The City striker has turned it on against SKC in recent seasons. Akindele has scored in the Lions’ last two consecutive MLS victories over their Western Conference opposition.
Back in August 2019, Tesho Akindele‘s solitary strike was enough to give James O’Connor‘s Lions all three points against SKC at Exploria Stadium.
An important victory that kept Orlando City SC‘s hopes of reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs alive, unfortunately, in hindsight, this was City’s final win of the season with eight games to spare.
A season later, as aforementioned, Tesho Akindele started the scoring in the Lions’ 1-2 victory at Children’s Mercy Park.
Orlando City SC 1 Sporting Kansas City 0 – Highlights – August 14, 2019 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
Sporting Kansas City form
Considering this fixture is Sporting Kansas City’s 2021 home opener, it’s worth assessing SKC’s form in recent home opener history.
In their last FIVE home openers, Peter Vermes’ side have gone 3-1-1 at Children’s Mercy Park. They’ve only surrendered one defeat on day one at home in this timeframe.
This came back in the 2018 MLS campaign.
Jesús Medina and Maxi Moralez goals earned New York City FC a 0-2 victory west of the Missouri River.
Orlando City SC form
Assessing Orlando City SC‘s form in their first away fixture of each of their six MLS seasons so far, it’s a mixed bag.
City have won TWO, drawn ONE and lost THREE of our first road games thus far. Last season’s first road trip was a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Colorado Rapids.
Playing an altitude in Commerce City is always tough. However, the way in which City conceded Drew Moor’s 90th minute winner was an extremely sour pill.
After Chris Mueller scored late (82nd minute) to cancel out Younes Namli’s opener, it looked as if Oscar Pareja‘s side had battled to a hard-fought draw.
Going on to lose 2-1, at full-time, Orlando City SC supporters had that familiar sinking feeling again following five dismal seasons.
Fortunately, as it turned out, 2020 was an outstanding season after this point, and one that surpassed all expectations.
Colorado Rapids 2 Orlando City SC 1 – Highlights – March 7, 2020 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
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Don’t forget, Sporting Kansas City vs Orlando City SC will be shown LIVE on FreeSports in the early hours of Saturday morning at 00:30 (GMT).
You can view our TV Fixture Tracker by clicking here.
GOOD NEWS 📺 | @SportingKC 🆚 @OrlandoCitySC is LIVE on @FreeSports_TV in the early hours of Saturday, April 2️⃣4️⃣. 🦁⚽️👏🏽#SKCvORL #OrlandoCity #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/Zz2mlks1Mn
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) April 2, 2021