Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday evening match-up between Orlando City and the New England Revolution. This is the second of two league meetings between the two MLS Eastern Conference rivals this season and the third match-up overall.

History

The Lions are 2-4-4 in the all-time series against New England in league play and 2-0-3 at home. If you count all competitions, Orlando is 3-4-4 and 3-0-3 at home.

The teams met at Exploria Stadium in U.S. Open Cup action back in June, with the Lions scoring twice in a 30-minute extra time session and holding on for a 2-1 victory. Benji Michel and Tesho Akindele staked Orlando to a 2-0 lead before Justin Rennicks pulled one back off a Carles Gil back-post cross. City was able to see the game out but the Revs were certainly pressing hard for an equalizer right up to the final whistle.

But then the teams met in league play on July 27 at Gillette Stadium and the Revs put the Lions on full blast, 4-1. Gustavo Bou scored within the first two minutes of the game and the Revolution got more goals from Cristian Penilla, Carles Gil and Diego Fagundez. Tesho Akindele pulled one back to avoid the shutout.

The last meeting of 2018 saw the Revs top a depleted Orlando side, 2-0 in Gillette Stadium last Oct. 13. Penilla and Fagundez provided the offense. In the first match-up of 2018, the teams combined for six goals in a 3-3 draw at Orlando City Stadium on Aug. 4. Orlando battled back from a 2-0 deficit after Juan Agudelo and Penilla found the net. Dom Dwyer pulled one back and Amro Tarek scored his first MLS goal (which probably should have been changed to a Matt Turner own goal) to level things. Teal Bunbury restored the Revolution’s lead, but Scott Sutter headed home a Yoshimar Yotún set piece delivery in the 93rd to rescue a point for the Lions.

City completed a 6-1 demolition of 10-man New England at home Sept. 27, 2017. Kaká scored a brace, with Dwyer getting his first home goal as a Lion and Yotún and Antonio Nocerino each getting their first ever goal with OCSC. Seb Hines also scored for Orlando and  Lee Nguyen got the Revs’ only tally on a free kick. New England won at Gillette Stadium that year by a 4-0 count and it could have been worse. Kei Kamara scored a hat trick and Bunbury also scored, with Nguyen assisting on all four goals to tie an MLS record. Jose Aja was sent off after receiving two yellow cards.

Orlando beat the Revs at home in Jason Kreis’ debut as the Lions’ coach on July 31, 2016, as Kevin Molino scored a brace for City in a 3-1 win. Cyle Larin also scored to more than offset Kamara’s strike. The teams also drew 2-2 twice in 2016 (and three times in the first four meetings), starting with the weird affair in Orlando back on April 17, 2016, in which the teams reached a controversial 2-2 final score. It was leveled by a very late Nguyen penalty for a handball in the box on Servando Carrasco, who didn’t touch it with any part of his hand or arm. Kaká opened the scoring on a penalty and Molino scored in the 92nd minute. Between those two goals, Bunbury scored off a corner that should have been ruled a goal kick.

The second 2016 meeting reached the same final score on April 30 in New England. This time the Revs appeared the better side for much of the game, but the Lions fought back twice from one-goal deficits on goals by Molino and Carlos Rivas to nullify scores by Fagundez and Agudelo. 

The teams met twice in 2015, with Orlando City rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the final 17 minutes to draw 2-2 (there’s that score again) at the Citrus Bowl in April. Larin and Aurelien Collin provided the goals for the Lions. The Sept. 5 rematch at Gillette Stadium didn’t go as well, with New England taking a 3-0 win. Fagundez, Agudelo and Chris Tierney scored for the Revolution.

Overview

Orlando City is winless in its last four matches (0-2-2), which includes a draw and a loss in the Lions’ last two home games — both of which were winnable. City is 6-7-2 at home this season. Meanwhile, New England has cooled off a bit from when the teams last met. The Revs are 1-2-3 in their last six games and New England is 3-5-6 on the road in 2019.

The Lions will be without Joao Moutinho (hamstring), although he was upgraded on the MLS injury report to questionable. Mauricio Pereyra is also questionable with a ‘lower body injury.’ New England is without fullback Edgar Castillo (rib), while Bunbury (hamstring) is questionable. Wilfred Zahibo and forward Juan Agudelo are out on yellow card suspension.

Mandatory Match #Content

• Our Intelligence Report gives us more on Revs from Jake Catanese from SB Nation’s New England blog, The Bent Musket.
• This week’s PawedCast includes our key match-ups and score predictions for tonight’s match.

Projected Lineups

Orlando City (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Brian Rowe.

Defenders: Kamal Miller, Robin Jansson, Lamine Sané, Ruan.

Midfielders: Cristian Higuita, Uri Rosell, Sebas Mendez.

Forwards: Nani, Dom Dwyer, Tesho Akindele.

Bench: Greg Ranjitsingh, Kyle Smith, Carlos Ascues, Mauricio Pereyra, Will Johnson, Chris Mueller, Benji Michel.

New England Revolution (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Matt Turner.

Defenders: DeJuan Jones, Antonio Delamea, Andrew Farrell, Brandon Bye.

Defensive Midfielders: Scott Caldwell, Luis Caicedo.

Attacking Midfielders: Cristian Penilla, Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou.

Forward: Juan Fernando Caicedo.

Bench: Brad Knighton, Jalil Anibaba, Michael Mancienne, Diego Fagundez, Juan Agudelo, Tajon Buchanan, Teal Bunbury.

Referees

Ref: Fotis Bazakos.

AR1: Brian Poeschel.

AR2: Jason White.

4th: Marcos DeOliveira.

VAR: Victor Rivas.

AVAR: Jeff Muschik.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m. ET.

Venue: Exploria Stadium — Orlando, FL.

TV: FOX 35 Plus (formerly known as My65) (local only).

Radio: 104.1 FM Real Radio (English), Accion 97.9 (Spanish), 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.
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• 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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