Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Santos Laguna, 2023 Leagues Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions have some work to do in order to advance in the competition.
Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night Leagues Cup group stage matchup between Orlando City (0-0-1, 2 poins) and Santos Laguna (0-0-1, 1 point) of Liga MX at Exploria Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). It’s the second meeting ever between the teams and the final match in group play for the South 2 group.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions have met Los Guerreros once before — also in Leagues Cup play — on Aug. 12, 2021. Santos Laguna captured that meeting 1-0 at Exploria Stadium in the 2021 iteration of Leagues Cup on a controversial goal by Juan Ferney Otero. The Lions felt Antonio Carlos was fouled in the buildup to the goal but no call was made and that essentially decided the match. That was a quarterfinal game and Santos went on to face the Seattle Sounders.
Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja has also coached in the Leagues Cup before arriving in Orlando, with his Tijuana side bowing out to the LA Galaxy in penalties following a 2-2 draw in California in 2019.
Overview
Orlando City is coming off a 1-1 draw against the Houston Dynamo in its first match of this competition a week ago. The Lions were incensed at a soft penalty awarded to Houston that allowed the Dynamo to claim a point but at least Orlando managed to win the post-game penalty shootout to claim a second point.
Santos Laguna played at Houston on Tuesday and fell behind 2-0 before rallying to get a 2-2 draw. However, the Dynamo won the penalty shootout, so Houston leads the group with three points. Tonight’s game is vital. If either team wins, it will win the group and travel to Inter Miami for the Round of 32. If tonight’s match is a draw, things get more complicated.
If Orlando City draws and wins the penalty shootout, but the score is 2-2, 1-1, or 0-0, the Lions will go through but finish second to Houston in the group. Why? Because apparently Leagues Cup isn’t using the head-to-head shootout result in the tiebreaking mechanism, and the next tiebreaker would be goals scored (which would favor Houston if lower than 2-2 and be equal if it finishes 2-2). The next tiebreaker is fair play and Houston has received fewer yellow cards — mostly due to arguing the highly questionable penalty awarded to the Dynamo last week.
If the Lions draw Santos Laguna 3-3 or with a higher score, they would finish first if they win the penalty shootout and go to Miami in the Round of 32. If they lose the shootout after such a score, they’d finish second in the group and host Pachuca.
Orlando City would be eliminated with a loss or a shootout loss if the tie score is 2-2 or lower.
The Lions are 0-1-2 against Liga MX competition, losing the first meeting against Santos Laguna in 2021 and drawing Tigres twice earlier this season in Concacaf Champions League play. The away-goals rule allowed Tigres to advance in that tournament. Orlando City has yet to win a non-MLS match in 2023 (0-1-3), with the two draws against Tigres and a loss in the U.S. Open Cup at Charlotte prior to last week’s draw vs. Houston.
This is only the third iteration of the competition, which was won in 2021 by Club León over the Seattle Sounders, 3-2, and in 2019 by Cruz Azul over fellow Liga MX side Tigres, 2-1. The event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
If the Lions are going to be successful, they’ll have to take care of the ball in possession and not be hesitant to play over the top when Santos presses high. The visitors will try to win the ball back high up the pitch and look for opportunities to score on quick transitions. In possession, the visitors will try to work the ball in from the wings. Santos is dangerous on set pieces, with big, physical Brazilian center back Matheus Dória and Colombian forward Harold Preciado offering tempting targets. Argentine attacking midfielder Juan Brunetta is another player to keep an eye on.
“It’s a great opportunity to compete against a good rival like Santos Laguna,” Pareja said. “Obviously, it’s going to increase this rivalry between the leagues of Mexico and the United States. [Our] mission is to continue [in Leagues Cup] and advance to the next round. The players are good, we are optimistic, and we are looking forward to a good game.”
Orlando City will continue to be without Gaston Gonzalez (thigh) and Michael Halliday (thigh). Starting goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo is the only known injury for Santos Laguna, but backup Gibran Lajud provides a quality alternative.
Match Content
- Our Intelligence Report provides more info about Santos Laguna from FMF State of Mind contributor Eugene Rupinski.
- Our most recent episode of the PawedCast features our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
- David Rohe gives you his three keys to victory for Orlando City.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, Kyle Smith.
Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.
Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, Facundo Torres.
Forward: Duncan McGuire.
Bench: Mason Stajduhar, Adam Grinwis, Luca Petrasso, Thomas Williams, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Felipe, Juninho, Shak Mohammed, Martin Ojeda, Ramiro Enrique, Ercan Kara.
Santos Laguna (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Gibran Lajud.
Defenders: Omar Campos, Matheus Dória, Felix Torres, Raúl López.
Defensive Midfielders: Alan Cervantes, Aldo López.
Attacking Midfielders: Duvan Vergara, Juan Brunetta, Emerson Rodríguez.
Forward: Harold Preciado.
Bench: Santiago Ramirez, Hector Holguin Perez, Jesus Gomez, Ismael Govea, Hugo Rodriguez, Diego Medina, Ronaldo Prieto, Pedro Aquino, Jair Gonzalez, Salvador Mariscal, Jesus Ocejo, Santiago Munoz.
Referees
Ref: Victor Rivas.
AR1: Jair Sosa Garcia.
AR2: Jesus Soto.
4th: Kwinsi Williams.
VAR: Rosendo Mendoza.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Exploria Stadium — Orlando.
TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.
Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow along at @TheManeLand, as well as Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).
Enjoy the match. Go City!