Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (11-6-7, 40 points) and expansion side St. Louis City SC (14-8-2, 44 points) at Exploria Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). This is the first meeting ever between the two sides and the only one on the 2023 regular-season schedule.

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

History

There isn’t any. As this will be the first meeting between the sides, the history of this series will begin to be written tonight.

The obvious connection between the two clubs is that St. Louis City selected Nicholas Gioacchini from Orlando City’s roster with the first pick of the 2022 MLS Expansion Draft ahead of its expansion season. Gioacchini had only been with the Lions since July of last year and had played sparingly for the Lions.

Match Overview

The Lions returned from Leagues Cup play on Sunday and came from behind on the road to defeat the Chicago Fire, 3-1. City has won its last two league matches and four of its last four league games (4-1-0). The Lions have one loss in their last seven games (4-1-2). Orlando is 5-3-4 at home in league play this season having gone 4-0-3 in its last seven home MLS matches dating back to an April 27 loss to D.C. United.

St. Louis City has taken the Western Conference by storm, entering the weekend atop the West by a four-point margin over LAFC. The expansion club is 5-5-1 away from home this season and has lost its last two road MLS matches (to Columbus and LAFC). However, the league’s newbies are coming off a 6-3 home win over Austin and have scored a league-high 49 goals this season.

The Lions must protect the ball, as St. Louis can be lethal on the counterattack. It will be important to track ex-Lion Gioacchini, who leads the club with 10 goals this season. But St. Louis has no shortage of offensive weapons. Eduard Lowen has scored six goals and assisted on nine others in 2023, and Samuel Adeniran and Joao Klauss can also be lethan finishers. Defender Tim Parker has scored four goals as well, so the Lions must be wary of him on set pieces. On the other end, Roman Burki has emerged as one of the best goalkeepers in the league, so Orlando City will need to be clinical to finish chances.

“First, we came from Chicago with a big result and very optimistic for this part of the season, which is going to become very crowded now with games — and all of them important games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said. “So, for now, it’s just saying the same phrase all the time — this is the one and we’ll be prepared. The boys have gone on a good stretch of performances and games, so now we keep going.”

The Lions will still be without winger Gaston Gonzalez (thigh) and center back Antonio Carlos (lower leg). There are no players listed on the availability report per St. Louis City’s game notes.

Match Content

• Our Intelligence Report provides more information on St. Louis City, courtesy of Shjon from the River City Ramble podcast.
• The most recent epsiode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match and our exclusive interview with Orlando City center back Robin Jansson.
• Our David Rohe provided his three keys to an Orlando City victory in this match.

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive Midfielders: Wilder Cartagena, Cesar Araujo.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, Facundo Torres.

Forward: Duncan McGuire.

Bench: Mason Stajduhar, Michael Halliday, Kyle Smith, Abdi Salim, Felipe, Junior Urso, Martin Ojeda, Ramiro Enrique, Jack Lynn.

St. Louis City SC (3-4-3)

Goalkeeper: Roman Burki.

Defenders: Akil Watts, Josh Yaro, Joakim Nilsson.

Midfielders: Kyle Hiebert, Aziel Jackson, Eduard Lowen, Jake Nerwinski.

Forward: Indiana Vassilev, Samuel Adeniran, Nicholas Gioacchini.

Bench: Ben Lundt, Lucas Bartlett, Jon Bell, Anthony Markanich, Tomas Ostrak, Rasmus Alm, Jared Stroud, Nokkvi Thorisson, Joao Klauss.

Referees

REF: Joe Dickerson.
AR1: Logan Brown.
AR2: Kevin Klinger.
4TH: Matt Thompson.
VAR: Sorin Stoica.
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Exploria Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

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

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

Enjoy the game. Go City!