Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night match-up between Orlando City and the New England Revolution (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). This is the first of two scheduled meetings between the two MLS Eastern Conference rivals this season and the only one at Gillette Stadium. The Revs will make the return trip to Orlando on Saturday, Oct. 7 in the Lions’ regular-season home finale.

Here’s what you need to know for the match.

History

The Lions are 2-6-7 in the all-time, regular-season series against New England and 3-7-7 in all competitions. On the road, Orlando City is still looking for its first win against the Revs in regular-season matches, taking just two points home from Foxborough with a record of 0-5-2.

These teams last met at Exploria Stadium on Aug. 6, 2022 and the previously struggling Revolution whipped Orlando City, 3-0. New England got goals from unlikely sources, as central midfielders Matt Polster and Wilfrid Kaptoum and center back Henry Kessler provided the offense. The last time the teams met at Gillette Stadium was back on June 15 of last year, when the Revs went ahead on a Carles Gil goal but the Lions pulled that back with a Robin Jansson strike en route to a 1-1 road draw.

New England went unbeate in the 2021 season series. The teams played to a 2-2 draw at Exploria Stadium on Oct. 24, 2021. The Lions built a 2-0 lead through goals by Nani and Daryl Dike, but two late Adam Buksa goals allowed the Revs to steal a point. The teams met at Gillette Stadium just over a month prior to that draw in Orlando, with Nani’s missed penalty a costly one in a 2-1 Revs home win. The Revolution jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a goal by Buksa and an own goal off of Rodrigo Schlegel, in which the referee was quite lenient with Buksa’s treatment of the Orlando defender in the lead-up to Tajon Buchanan’s cross. Dike pulled one back for the Lions and won a penalty but Nani’s attempt to go down the middle was read at the last second by Matt Turner, who got his shoulder to it to preserve the lead. Orlando played well in that match but wasn’t clinical enough with its chances.

The Revolution ended the Lions’ season at Exploria Stadium in the 2020 playoffs, knocking Orlando City out of MLS Cup contention in the conference semifinal round on Nov. 29, 2020 That 3-1 win by the Revs was the first road win for either side in the all-time series in any competition. Gil put the Revs up early from the penalty spot after a call against Uri Rosell and Gustavo Bou doubled the lead eight minutes later, finishing a play that started with a Nani turnover the captain said should have been called a foul. Junior Urso pulled a goal back before the halftime whistle, but Mauricio Pereyra was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Polster at the hour mark. Still, Nani had a chance to equalize from the spot, but a poor penalty was saved by Turner. Bou added a late insurance goal.

In the final year of the pre-pandemic times, the Revs went 1-0-1 in the season series. The Lions and Revolution met at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 14, 2019, with Orlando overcoming a Tesho Akindele own goal and two deficits — the second by two goals — and rallying for a 3-3 draw. Akindele’s own goal opened the scoring 15 minutes in, but Nani tied things up less than 10 minutes later. Cristian Penilla and Bou scored goals five minutes apart just before halftime to seemingly give the visitors control. But Dom Dwyer pulled one back after the restart and Nani tied it up with more than a half hour to play. Neither side could find a winner, however.

The teams also met at Gillette Stadium in 2019 on July 27, and the Revs put the Lions on full blast, 4-1. Bou scored within the first two minutes of the game and the Revolution got more goals from Penilla, Gil, and Diego Fagundez. Akindele pulled one back to avoid the shutout.

The teams also met at Exploria Stadium in U.S. Open Cup action that year on June 19, with the Lions scoring twice in a 30-minute extra time session and holding on for a 2-1 victory. Benji Michel and Akindele staked Orlando to a 2-0 lead before Justin Rennicks pulled one back off a Gil back-post cross. City was able to see the game out.

The last meeting of 2018 saw the Revs top a depleted Orlando side, 2-0 in Gillette Stadium on 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. Dwyer pulled one back and Amro Tarek scored his first MLS goal to level things. Teal Bunbury restored the Revolution’s lead, but Scott Sutter headed home a Yoshimar Yotún set piece delivery in stoppage time to rescue a point for the Lions.

Orlando City and New England split the season series in 2017. 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 an MLS Lion and Yotún and Antonio Nocerino each scoring 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 netted 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.

The Lions went 1-0-2 in the series in 2016, winning 3-1 at home on July 31. The teams played a controversial 2-2 draw in Orlando on April 17, 2016. The second 2016 meeting reached the same final score on April 30 in New England.

The teams met twice in 2015, with Orlando City rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the final 17 minutes to draw 2-2 at the Citrus Bowl in April. 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 coming off a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids a week ago. The Lions played a bit cautiously but controlled play and eventually went up a man — and then two — which led to the Rapids rarely threatening and Orlando winning on goals by Facundo Torres and Ramiro Enrique. The Lions have gone unbeaten in six matches (3-0-3) but that streak will be in jeopardy tonight in a building that has been unkind to them over the years.

City will be without several key players. Torres, Wilder Cartagena, and Pedro Gallese are away on international duty, and defenders Kyle Smith and Antonio Carlos are suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Look for Mason Stajduhar to start in goal and guys like Martin Ojeda, Michael Halliday, Rodrigo Schlegel, and potentially Felipe step into the starting XI.

The Lions are 4-1-2 on the road in 2023. To continue that trend, they’ll have to end New England’s streak of home success.

New England is unbeaten at home in 2023, entering tonight with a 5-0-3 mark at Gillette Stadium. The Revs are not only a good team, but they know the intricacies of their stadium’s fake plastic grass better than anyone who visits them, which is a big advantage. The Revolution enter on a four-match unbeaten run (1-0-3) and New England has hung three goals on the board in three of its past four games.

In fact, New England has the third-best attack in the Eastern Conference, having scored 28 goals on the year. Meanwhile, only five teams in the conference have conceded fewer goals than the Revs, as Bruce Arena’s group has been a complete team despite suffering through some injury issues in 2023. Key veteran additions from within MLS have bolstered the team’s offense and defense in the form of Bobby Wood and Dave Romney, respectively.

Having any success against New England, however, always demands that the opposition keeps tabs on Gil, one of the league’s most lethal playmakers and a guy who can score goals of his own, as well. Gil and Wood pace the Revs with six goals apiece, with the Spaniard adding a team-high seven assists on the year. New England has the luxury of having Bou and Giacomo Vrioni (two goals, and three goals, respectively) coming off the bench in recent weeks.

“New England is a good team. They have good players and a very experienced coach,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said earlier this week. “Like always, it’s a different story and the context always helps us see the game, but I don’t think you can dictate what is going to happen. We’re building our game against New England like always. This time we hope we can get there and bring [back] three points.”

Orlando City will be without the following players on international duty: Cartagena (Peru), Gallese (Peru), Wilfredo Rivera (Puerto Rico), and Torres (Uruguay). Smith and Carlos are out with suspensions for yellow card accumulation. Adam Grinwis (concussion protocol) and Abdi Salim (knee) are also out. Gaston Gonzalez (thigh) has been upgraded to questionable. To add some squad depth for the match, the Lions signed goalkeeper Javier Otero and midfielder Juninho to short-term agreements from Orlando City B on Friday.

New England will be without several players as well, but the most dangerous ones will be in the lineup. The Revolution’s injured include Dylan Borrero (knee), Nacho Gil (leg), Kessler (hamstring), Maciel (Achilles), and Tommy McNamara (leg). In addition, Christian Makoun (Venezuela), Djordje Petrović (Serbia), and Damian Rivera (Costa Rica U-23) are on international duty.

Match Content

• Our Intelligence Report provides more info on the Revs from Jake Catanese from independent New England blog, The Blazing Musket.
• Our most recent PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for the match and a preview with The Blazing Musket’s Sam Minton.
• David Rohe provided his three keys to victory for Orlando City against the Revs.

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Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Mason Stajduhar.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Michael Halliday.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Felipe.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, Martin Ojeda.

Forwards: Ercan Kara.

Bench: Javier Otero, Luca Petrasso, Alex Freeman, Thomas Williams, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Juninho, Favian Loyola, Ramiro Enrique, Duncan McGuire.

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

Goalkeeper: Earl Edwards, Jr.

Defenders: DeJuan Jones, Dave Romney, Andrew Farrell, Brandon Bye.

Defensive Midfielders: Matt Polster, Noel Buck.

Attacking Midfielders: Emmanuel Boateng, Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou.

Forward: Bobby Wood.

Bench: Jacob Jackson, Ben Sweat, Omar Gonzalez, Jack Panayotou, Joshua Bolma, Justin Rennicks, Esmir Bajraktarevic, Giacomo Vrioni.

Referees

REF: Fotis Bazakos.
AR1: Claudiu Badea.
AR2: Jeffrey Swartzel.
4TH: Matthew Corrigan.
VAR: Geoff Gamble.
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30p.m. ET.

Venue: Gillette Stadium — Foxborough, MA.

TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English), Accion 97.9, 810 AM (Spanish).

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

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Enjoy the match. Go City!