Lion Links: 9/15/17

It’s Friday! Wait a second, it is Friday, isn’t it? The days have all just blended together since Irma. I hope that you and yours are continuing to do well during the recovery, and are helping those neighbors and strangers in need. In between chainsawing, yard cleanup, filling generators with fuel, and finishing off those hurricane supplies, here are some fantastic tidbits for your reading pleasure from around the web.

Orlando City Still Tweaking the XI

Giles Barnes as our number 10? He thinks so, and if the Lions can take the form they showed in D.C. with them to Atlanta this weekend, Barnes could get the nod to start in the number 10 role again. He will have a great stage from which to make his case. Barnes did score in the 28th minute against D.C. United and was definitely a contender for MOTM.

Considering Kaká is suspended for card accumulation, Orlando City may not have a choice but to give Barnes another shot at the 10 spot in front of what will most likely be a record-setting crowd at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. No one is helping us right now to increase our playoff chances, so Barnes will need to show that he owns the number 10 spot, and bring home points.

Pride Plan Fun Run

Before you sit down for the Pride’s Sept. 23 match against the Portland Thorns and before you get your kid(s) all jacked up on soda and sweets, let them vent some of that energy with the Pride Fun Run. There will be different lengths of races based on age, tons of fun post-race, and best of all, you get to cheer on the Pride afterwards. All of the information can be found in the link above.

Orlando City Player Ratings for FIFA 18

• It is that time of year and, if you are into this kind of thing, which I know a number of you are, momentum is building for the release of FIFA 18 on Sept. 29. Ahead of the release, the new rankings for some of the Lions have been revealed:
  Scott Sutter improves to a 70.
• Dom Dwyer improves to a 73.
• Cyle Larin improves to a 73.
• Kaká is an 80.

The rest of the Orlando City roster should be revealed in the coming weeks leading up to the game’s release.

Jordan Morris MRI Results

Jordan Morris will most likely miss multiple weeks with a “significant strain” according to Seattle Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. This could also mean that Morris will miss the World Cup qualifiers for the USMNT in October. It will now be interesting to see who fills his spot on the men’s roster. Could we see Dom Dwyer getting another call up?

Free Kicks

• There is a new world number one. Germany has taken the top spot in the FIFA world rankings from Brazil.
• Would you like to see a few English Premier League matches played in the U.S. similar to how the NFL plays a few regular season games in the UK? I know I do!
• Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe have joined Juan Mata and his campaign to get major sports athletes to donate 1% of their salary to charity.

And finally, without further ado, I am just going to leave a few of these Simpsons-based EPL crest mashups right here:

That is all I’ve got for now. Hoping to have power up and running soon. I keep hearing that we are involved in some sort of soccer match tomorrow night…anyone know what is going on? Anyone?