STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs New England Revolution – 14.09.2024

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Before the international break, Orlando City SC bounced back from a disappointing performance at Sporting Kansas City with a decisive 3-0 victory over Nashville SC at Inter&Co Stadium. Iván Angulo opened the scoring, followed by a Facundo Torres brace, as the Lions secured their fifth consecutive shutout against Nashville SC – a team we’ve quite simply owned in recent times!

Now, with New England Revolution visiting Central Florida, Orlando City SC face the second of three consecutive home fixtures. At this late stage of the MLS regular season, this stretch is crucial, and we need to capitalise on our home advantage to secure as many points as possible.

Right now, the Lions are quietly going under the radar when it comes to climbing the Eastern Conference standings. As MLSsoccer.com’s Matt Doyle wrote recently, “the Lions and Oscar Pareja are doing that thing again” and “no one above them seems interested in doing much about it”. Indeed, Orlando City SC are currently just one point below sixth, two points below fifth, and six points below fourth. “There’s a world here where Orlando somehow end up hosting in Round One”, Doyle continued with City “salvaging a season that felt rough for a while”.

As for Saturday’s opponents, New England Revolution, Caleb Porter’s side currently sit twelfth in the Eastern Conference (27 points), only a point above joint-bottom sides Chicago Fire and Nashville SC (26 points). It’s been a challenging first season in charge for Porter, with the team coming off a 2-2 draw against St. Louis CITY SC last weekend during the international break. Porter will serve a one-match touchline ban at Inter&Co Stadium this Saturday after he called referee Timothy Ford “a complete coward” for consulting VAR but failing to award a penalty to the Revs in last weekend’s game against St. Louis CITY SC.

With just over 10 minutes left, the ball clearly struck Kyle Hiebert’s right arm as he contested a header with Nacho Gil, but referee Ford deemed his arm to be in a “justifiable position”, and play continued with the match tied 2-2. For what it’s worth, Timothy Ford is the same referee who had a mare of a performance during Orlando City SC’s 2-3 win at Philadelphia Union back on May 11. With Revs having only won one of their last seven MLS matches (1-2-4), this game is another big opportunity for City to pick up all three points. Continue reading

STATS PREVIEW: Atlanta United vs Orlando City SC – 15.07.2023

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Emphatically defeated 4-0 at Real Salt Lake, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC must pick themselves up quick for another road test – this time against fierce rivals Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Each regular season, this is the away game many Orlando City SC supporters want to win the most with the Lions having only won once in Georgia in eight separate attempts. Continue reading

STATS PREVIEW: Real Salt Lake vs Orlando City SC – 08.07.2023

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Even before the post-match Exploria Stadium fireworks show to commemorate July 4, Orlando City SC celebrated Independence Day with a bang by emphatically defeating Toronto FC 4-0.

Registering two home victories in a row and only losing one of our last eleven MLS fixtures, Oscar Pareja‘s upwardly mobile Lions now face a tough three-game road streak in MLS, sandwiched by at least two ties in the 2023 Leagues Cup. Continue reading

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Real Salt Lake – 29.02.2020

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After all of the waiting and anticipation, a brand new era is set to begin. Oscar Pareja will make his Lions debut in Orlando City SC‘s 2020 home opener against Real Salt Lake.

Starting at home for a sixth consecutive season in Major League Soccer, Orlando City UK will be attending the game at Exploria Stadium LIVE. All City supporters will hope 2020 is finally the year we reach the MLS Cup Playoffs. Continue reading

Orlando City UK visiting Orlando for a fifth successive year this February

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Most definitely a yearly ritual for us, Orlando City UK are thrilled to announce we are visiting Orlando for a fifth successive year next month.

A much shorter trip for us this time round, I’ll be making the two-and-a-half hour flight down from Toronto, Canada to experience Orlando City SC‘s 2020 home opener against Real Salt Lake on February 29. Continue reading

STATS PREVIEW: Columbus Crew vs Orlando City SC – 29.06.2019

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Following our narrow 1-0 loss at D.C. United, Orlando City SC face a quick three-day turnaround by heading west to face fellow Eastern Conference side Columbus Crew at MAPFRE Stadium.

The Black & Gold are just a single point below the Lions in the East right now so this is a crucial opportunity to destabilise a side Orlando City SC have endured their fair share of ill-feeling with since entering MLS in 2015. Continue reading

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Vancouver Whitecaps – 20.04.2019

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Following a narrow 2-1 loss at Real Salt Lake and our third defeat of the 2019 Major League Soccer campaign, James O’Connor‘s Orlando City SC will look to bounce back at home against Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Canadian side embark on their furthest trip of the MLS season with new head coach Marc Dos Santos having just earned his first league victory at the seventh attempt against Los Angeles FC (1-0) on Wednesday. Continue reading

STATS PREVIEW: Real Salt Lake vs Orlando City SC – 13.04.2019

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The first home victory of 2019 has now been secured but Orlando City SC pushed their supporters’ heart rates to the max as they overcame Colorado Rapids 4-3 in an all-action thriller last weekend.

Coming from behind twice in the game to salvage all three points, James O’Connor‘s Lions now head west to Utah to face Rapids’ principal rivals Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. Continue reading

Five Orlando City SC takeaways from the 2018 MLS Players Salary Guide

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This week the MLS Players Association published an updated version of the 2018 player salaries, the first since the close secondary transfer window and final roster freeze in September.

Headlines included high-profile D.C. United acquisition Wayne Rooney becoming the league’s ninth highest paid player at $2.78m, one of a record 53 millionaires now plying their trade in North America. Continue reading

STATS PREVIEW: Orlando City SC vs Real Salt Lake – 06.05.2018

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Claiming all three points from our trip to the Rocky Mountains, Orlando City SC‘s season continues to go from strength to strength with the win representing our fifth straight victory in MLS.

One nil down at half-time, there was much to admire about the way Jason Kreis‘ Lions didn’t panic before a Cristian Higuita strike and Yoshimar Yotún penalty completed the 1-2 comeback at Colorado Rapids. Continue reading