Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
Orlando looks to build on last week’s home win when the Red Bulls visit.
Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (1-3-1, 4 points) and the New York Red Bulls (3-1-1, 10 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the first of the two scheduled league matches between the sides this season. The Lions will make the return trip to Harrison, NJ, on June 1.
Here’s what you need to know for the match.
History
The Lions are 8-9-2 in 19 league meetings with the Red Bulls in the all-time series (9-9-2 in all competitions), with a record of 4-4-1 in home league matches and 5-4-1 at home in all competitions.
Orlando City got the sweep last year and did not concede a goal in the series, winning the last meeting 3-0 at Red Bull Arena. Facundo Torres scored twice — once from the spot — after Ivan Angulo opened the scoring for an easy road win. The most recent meeting between the sides in Orlando took place on opening day of 2023, with Orlando City winning 1-0 on a Torres penalty kick on Feb. 25. Sean Nealis’ handball allowed the Lions to start the season with a victory.
Orlando City won at Red Bull Arena 1-0 on Aug. 13, 2022, thanks to a Torres goal. That allowed the Lions to split the regular-season meetings and take two of three against New York in all competitions in 2022.
The Lions scored five unanswered goals to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 romp in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals on July 27, 2022 at Exploria Stadium. Cesar Araujo scored his first two professional goals on set pieces, while Mauricio Pereyra, Torres, and Benji Michel also found the net. Lewis Morgan scored New York’s lone goal.
The win in August had allowed the Lions to snap a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) in the regular-season series. The last of those non-wins came on April 24, 2022, when the Lions were walloped 3-0 at home on goals by Luquinhas, Cristian Casseres Jr., and Morgan, and Orlando City failed to get any of its measly three shot attempts on target.
The Red Bulls swept the season series in 2021. The teams met at Exploria Stadium on July 3 of that season with New York taking home a 2-1 win. Casseres opened the scoring just six minutes in, but Chris Mueller pulled the Lions level early in the second half. Fabio’s late goal lifted the visitors. Pereyra’s poor penalty was saved by Carlos Coronel, which cost Orlando City a better result.
The Red Bulls also handed Orlando City its first loss of the 2021 season, a 2-1 affair at Red Bull Arena, on May 29, 2021. Nani was suspended for that match and it showed, as the Lions were sloppy in possession and lacked composure on the ball. New York took the lead on goals by Caden Clark and Casseres, before Silvester van der Water pulled one back late. The Dutchman had a golden opportunity to tie the match moments later but skied his shot well over the bar.
The Lions got a road draw on Oct. 18, 2020, with Brian White equalizing deep in stoppage time in a 1-1 match. Nani had put the Lions ahead in the second half with a penalty kick goal and Orlando clinched its first ever MLS playoff spot despite spilling those late two points. That was the last match in the club’s record 12-match unbeaten streak in MLS play.
Orlando got the better of New York at Exploria Stadium on Oct. 3, 2020, winning 3-1 on goals by Daryl Dike, Junior Urso, and Antonio Carlos. Florian Valot scored for New York.
The Red Bulls won 1-0 at Exploria Stadium on July 21, 2019. White’s goal stood up as Carlos Ascues, Tesho Akindele, and Sacha Kljestan each hit the woodwork in the second half. Prior to that, the Lions eked out a 1-0 win at Red Bull Arena on Kljestan’s goal on March 23, 2019. Before that game, the home team had won each of the previous five home games in the series, splitting a pair of matches during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The teams split two meetings in 2018, with the Red Bulls grabbing a 1-0 result in the 2018 season finale to capture the Supporters’ Shield and the Lions pulling off a 4-3 home victory on March 31, 2018. Each team won at home in 2017 to split the two-game series, with New York winning 3-1 on Aug. 12, and Orlando City opening the season series with a 1-0 win on April 9 behind Servando Carrasco’s goal.
The teams met three times in 2016, with New York going 2-0-1. The teams split two games in 2015, with the road team winning both times, including Orlando City’s 5-2 win in New Jersey behind a Cyle Larin hat trick.
Match Overview
Orlando City enters this match fresh off its first win of the season, a comfortable 2-0 victory at home a week ago against Austin FC. The Lions, who got goals from Jack Lynn and Nico Lodeiro, will be looking to make it five straight wins over the Red Bulls (in all competitions) dating back to the massive U.S. Open Cup win in 2022. That snapped Orlando’s 0-3-1 skid to open the regular season. The Lions are 1-1-1 at home on the season and will welcome back their international players and potentially midfielder Cesar Araujo, who has returned to training after sustaining an ankle injury. So, it will be interesting to see if Oscar Pareja stays with the 4-4-2 of the last two matches or returns to the 4-2-3-1.
New York is coming off a 4-0 demolition of Inter Miami last weekend. Coincidentally, the Red Bulls also shut out Inter Miami in the game before their last match against Orlando in 2023. New York is 1-1-1 away from Red Bull Arena on the young season, with the loss coming in the club’s last road outing — a 3-0 decision at Columbus on March 16.
Sandro Schwarz is now at the helm of the Red Bulls, meaning the Lions will face a different New York head coach for the third consecutive meeting. Although you know the drill against the Red Bulls — they like to press high and counterpress — Schwarz has been able to coax his team to also be able to absorb pressure when necessary. His side has been deployed as a 4-4-2 and a 4-2-2-2.
As usual, the Lions will need to take care of the ball and avoid New York’s dangerous transition attack. Morgan, the reigning MLS Player of the Matchday for his hat trick against Miami, is Major League Soccer’s co-leader in goals (5) on the young season, while teammate Dante Vanzeir leads the league in assists (5). New Designated Player Emil Forsberg is another dangerous attacker who can either score or set up a teammate.
“The rivals know each other pretty well. I think the game plans are pretty clear for both and there are times when you have this much information on metrics and on video,” Pareja said ahead of the match. “We both know what the nature of the teams is, the execution on the pitch, how clear can we be with our concepts and trying to affect them and prevent any damage.”
Orlando City will be without Ramiro Enrique (ankle), while Araujo (ankle) remains listed as questionable. New York has a clean bill of health as no one is listed on the team’s availability report.
Match Content
- Our Intelligence Report provides more background on tonight’s opponents, courtesy of Mark Fishkin of the Seeing Red podcast.
- The most recent episode of the PawedCast includes our key match-ups and score predictions for today’s match and a discussion about the match and New York’s season to date with Fishkin.
- Our David Rohe gave his three keys to an Orlando City victory in this match.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Kyle Smith, Nico Lodeiro, Facundo Torres.
Forwards: Luis Muriel, Duncan McGuire.
Bench: Mason Stajduhar, Michael Halliday, David Brekalo, Felipe, Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena, Martin Ojeda, Shak Mohammed, Jack Lynn.
New York Red Bulls (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Carlos Coronel.
Defenders: Kyle Duncan, Sean Nealis, Andres Reyes, Dylan Nealis.
Midfielders: Wikelman Carmona, Peter Stroud, Frankie Amaya, Dennis Gjengaar.
Forwards: Dante Vanzeir, Lewis Morgan.
Bench: Ryan Meara, John Tolkin, Ronald Donkor, Roald Mitchell, Elias Manoel, Cameron Harper, Serge Ngoma, Julian Hall.
Referees
REF: Victor Rivas.
AR1: Jeffrey Greeson.
AR2: Jeffrey Swartzel.
4TH: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Younes Marrakchi.
AVAR: Felisha Mariscal.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.
TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Radio: Real Radio 104.1 FM (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).
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!