Orlando City

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

The Lions continue to hunt their first win at Gillette Stadium against a surging Revolution squad.

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2 months ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City and the New England Revolution (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+ (free)). This is the first of the two scheduled meetings between the two MLS Eastern Conference rivals this season, with the Revs set to make the return visit to Inter&Co Stadium on Sept. 14.

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

History

The Lions are 3-7-7 in the regular-season series against New England and 4-8-7 in all competitions. However, on the road Orlando City has been abysmal, compiling an ugly record of 0-6-2 in eight away matches on the plastic grass of Gillette Stadium. Woof (both to the record and to playing on fake grass).

The last meeting between the teams took place in Orlando on Oct. 7, 2023, with the Lions winning 3-2 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Orlando City clinched second in the Eastern Conference as Duncan McGuire and Facundo Torres built a 2-0 lead. Pedro Gallese gave up a soft goal from distance to Carles Gil, but Ivan Angulo pulled that one back three minutes later. Gil added a second deep in stoppage time to improve the result cosmetically.

New England got the better of the Lions in the previous matchup of the 2023 season, winning 3-1 at Gillette Stadium on June 17. After a scoreless first half, the Revs went up by two with goals from Emmanuel Boateng and Gustavo Bou 18 minutes apart. McGuire pulled one back late but Gil scored the dagger five minutes later.

These teams 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 teams met at Gillette Stadium on June 15 of that year, and the Revs went ahead on a Gil goal, but the Lions pulled that back with a Robin Jansson strike en route to a 1-1 road draw.

New England went unbeaten 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.

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 series in any competition. Gil put the Revs up early from the penalty spot after a call against Uri Rosell, and Bou doubled the lead eight minutes later, finishing a play that started with a Nani turnover. 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.

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 goals from Penilla, Gil, and Diego Fagundez. Akindele scored 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 matchup 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 scored the first, and Amro Tarek added 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 has won two straight games and three of its last four, including a 5-0 dismantling of D.C. United a week ago, with five different Lions finding the net. The club struggled to score for most of the season but has put the ball in the net 15 times in the last five matches. That offense took a hit with McGuire’s departure for the U.S. Olympic team, but the attacking midfielders have been gelling of late. Orlando’s road record of 4-4-3 is respectable, with a 2-1 win at Toronto in the last away game pulling the Lions to .500 in road matches.

The Revolution, like Orlando City, have improved of late. New England is a very un-Revs-like 4-6-1 at home this season, but has won five of its last seven matches, although two of those losses have come in the team’s last three games, including a 2-0 loss at Seattle a week ago. However, two of those wins have come at the expense of FC Cincinnati and the New York Red Bulls.

Having any success against New England usually 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 has five goals — just two behind Revs’ leading scorer Giacomo Vrioni — and leads New England with six assists. However, he’s listed as out on the availability report. Vrioni becomes the key focal point for the Orlando defense to stop, although fullbacks Brandon Bye and DeJuan Jones can turn any New England attacker into a threat with their play on the outside.

“First, try to keep improving the level like always. The results obviously give us more confidence to continue winning games and adding important points,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “The flexibility of the team is much better, and the cohesiveness we’ve found in the last two games has given us optimism. Keep working, the journey is still in front of us. We must keep improving and maintaining this level of playing well and confidence in front of the goal. It’s been great to see.”

In addition to McGuire, Orlando City will be without Michael Halliday (knee) and Mason Stajduhar (lower leg). New England will be without Carles Gil (leg), Nacho Gil (knee), Dylan Borrero (hip), Thomas Chancalay (knee), and Nick Lima (groin). In addition, Buck (quad), Emmanuel Boateng (hamstring), Mark-Anthony Kaye (hip), and Tommy McNamara (hamstring) are questionable.

Match Content

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Facundo Torres.

Forwards: Ramiro Enrique.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Alex Freeman, David Brekalo, Felipe, Jeorgio Kocevski, Nico Lodeiro, Luis Muriel, Jack Lynn.

New England Revolution (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Aljaz Ivacic.

Defenders: DeJuan Jones, Dave Romney, Henry Kessler, Brandon Bye.

Midfielders: Ian Harkes, Matt Polster, Tommy McNamara.

Forwards: Esmir Bajraktarevic, Giacomo Vrioni, Jack Panayotou.

Bench: Earl Edwards, Jr., Andrew Farrell, Jonathan Mensah, Ryan Spaulding, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Marcos Diaz, Malcolm Fry, Bobby Wood.

Referees

REF: Sergii Boiko.
AR1: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt.
AR2: Kevin Lock.
4TH: Elijio Arreguin.
VAR: Fotis Bazakos.
AVAR: Claudiu Badea.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30p.m. ET.

Venue: Gillette Stadium — Foxborough, MA.

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

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (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!

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