Orlando City vs. Los Angeles FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night match-up between Orlando City (9-13-7, 34 points) and Los Angeles FC (19-4-5, 62 points) at Exploria Stadium. It’s the second ever meeting between these two clubs — the first in Orlando — and the only one scheduled in 2019 between the two non-conference opponents.

History

LAFC won the initial meeting of the series last year at Banc of California Stadium, running away 4-1 after the Lions had an apparent tying goal overturned for offside on a play that didn’t seem all that clear or obvious of an error to me. But admittedly I’m limited to only the replays they showed on my television set.

That match, you may recall, was originally scheduled to be a 4:30 p.m. ET kickoff but due to high temperatures in Los Angeles it was moved to 11 p.m. ET. The fact that LAFC played a weather-delayed match in Houston in the midweek prior to that match-up had nothing to do with the time change. Probably.

The initial meeting of the two teams was also the first game the Lions played under James O’Connor. That game was nearly (and maybe should have been) tied late but it served only as O’Connor’s first loss with Orlando and the team’s ninth consecutive loss overall in a miserable 2018 season.

Overview

The Lions are 6-7-1 at home this season while LAFC is 8-3-3 on the road and is running away with the Supporters’ Shield with an absurd 62 points. Orlando City has lost two straight games without having scored a goal in either, and is 0-2-1 in its last three overall. LAFC is on an uncharacteristic 0-1-1 slide.

Both teams will be missing a lot of players for this one. Orlando has five players away on international duty: Will Johnson (Canada), Tesho Akindele (Canada), Kamal Miller (Canada), Carlos Ascues (Peru), and Sebas Mendez (Ecuador). In addition, the Lions will likely still be without former LAFC fullback Joao Moutinho (hamstring), right back Ruan (hamstring), and midfielder Mauricio Pereyra (lower body).

LAFC, meanwhile, could be without probable league MVP Carlos Vela (hamstring) and the team will be without the following players on international duty: Walker Zimmerman (USA), Diego Palacios (Ecuador), Mark-Anthony Kaye (Canada), Eduard Atuesta (Colombia U-23s), Brian Rodriguez (Uruguay) and Peter-Lee Vassell (Jamaica).

Don’t think that lets Orlando off the hook. Diego Rossi, Lee Nguyen, and Adama Diomande are all capable of providing offense.

Mandatory Match #Content

Here's your mandatory match content for tonight’s game:

• Our Intelligence Report provides more info about the hosts from Alicia Rodriguez of SB Nation’s LAFC blog, Angels on Parade.
• This week's PawedCast includes our key match-ups and score predictions.
• Our Jenn Glasheen wrote about how you can mentally prepare for the Lions to face the league’s best team.

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Brian Rowe.

Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Lamine Sané, Ruan.

Midfielders: Uri Rosell, Cristian Higuita, Dillon Powers,

Forwards: Nani, Dom Dwyer, Benji Michel.

Bench: Adam Grinwis, Shane O’Neill, Alex De John, Sacha Kljestan, Robinho, Chris Mueller, Santiago Patino.

Los Angeles FC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Tyler Miller,

Defenders: Jordan Harvey, Eddie Segura, Tristan Blackmon, Steven Beitashour.

Midfielders: Latif Blessing, Diego Rossi, Lee Nguyen.

Forwards: Adrien Perez, Adama Diomande, Josh Perez.

Bench: Pablo Sisniega, Danilo Silva, Dejan Jakovic, Mohamed El-Munir, Alejandro Guido.

Referees

Ref: Alan Kelly.

AR1: Eric Weisbrod.

AR2: Claudiu Badea.

4th: Christopher Penso.

VAR: Geoff Gamble.

AVAR: Kyle Longville.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m. ET.

Venue: Exploria Stadium — Orlando, FL.

TV: My65 (local only).

Radio: Real Radio 104.1 FM (English), Accion 97.9 FM, 810 AM.

Streaming: The match can be streamed on ESPN+ and YouTube TV.

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City's official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

Match Thread Rules

This is your live thread for posting comments on the match. So use our comments section below to talk about the game in real time with other supporters. If you’re new, welcome to our happy home! While you’re here, please observe a few basic rules:

• Absolutely no links to illegal streams. They can get us in trouble, and no one wants that.
• Try not to be the person who spews nothing but venom and hate for the team. It’s OK to be critical, and, let’s face it, sometimes even the best teams can be frustrating to watch, but being overly negative relentlessly can sap the enjoyment for others.
• Keep it somewhat clean and fair when criticizing players / officials. You never know who might be reading.
• Do unto others in the match thread, the way you would have others do unto you. We are a fun community and want to keep it this way. We have a moderator, but we’d rather let him enjoy the game instead of having to play babysitter.

Enjoy the match! Go City!

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