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

Welcome to your match thread for a Decision Day Saturday matchup between Orlando City (15-11-7, 52 points) and Atlanta United (9-14-10, 37 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (6 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). It’s the second of the two scheduled meetings between the two Eastern Conference rivals this season.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

The Lions are 4-9-7 in the all-time series against Atlanta in league play and 2-5-3 at home. Those numbers drop to 4-10-7 and 2-6-3 in all competitions. The last time the teams met was at Mercedes-Benz Stadium back on March 17, when Orlando City fell 2-0 on goals by Saba Lobjanidze and Giorgos Giakoumakis.

The last meeting of 2023 also took place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Orlando City capturing a 2-1 away win. Atlanta took the lead through Caleb Wiley, but Antonio Carlos and Duncan McGuire scored to lead the Lions’ comeback.

They also met in Orlando on May 27, 2023, at then-Exploria Stadium and played to a 1-1 draw. It was a heartbreaking dropped two points for the Lions, who took the lead through Kyle Smith at the half-hour mark and held that advantage until four minutes from full time, when Tyler Wolff pounced on a fortunate rebound in the box and equalized.

Atlanta went 1-0-1 in the season series in 2022. On Sept. 14 at Exploria Stadium the Five Stripes won 1-0 on a Thiago Almada goal despite the Lions out-shooting Atlanta 20-10. The sides played to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting of that year on July 22 in Atlanta. Mauricio Pereyra staked the Lions to an early 1-0 lead on a beautiful free kick. Juan Jose Purata equalized in the second half, but Atlanta bombarded Orlando the majority of the game and completely controlled the midfield, out-shooting the Lions 18-3 in the match.

Orlando had a six-match unbeaten streak in the series (3-0-3) snapped on Sept. 10, 2021, as the Five Stripes won 3-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. George Campbell and Ezequiel Barco scored for Atlanta, sandwiched around a Daryl Dike own goal to hand Gonzalo Pineda his first win as manager for United.

The second of three 2021 meetings took place July 30 at Exploria Stadium, with the Five Stripes taking the lead twice on goals by Josef Martinez and Marcelino Moreno, but the Lions not only fought back twice on strikes by Smith and Silvester van der Water, but Nani scored a late game winner by heading in VDW’s cross in Orlando City’s 3-2 win. The first meeting of that season between the two rivals came on opening day — April 17 — and they played to a 0-0 draw. It was an evenly matched game, with each team firing 11 shots and getting three on frame.

The final meeting of 2020 came on Oct. 28, when Orlando City ran away with a 4-1 win over Atlanta at Exploria Stadium. Dike, Chris Mueller, Tesho Akindele, and Matheus Aias — his first in MLS — scored the goals for the Lions, with Cubo Torres preventing a shutout with a late goal for the visitors. Prior to that, the teams met in Atlanta on Oct. 7, 2020 and played to a 0-0 draw. Robinho and Nani each hit the woodwork and Brad Guzan stood on his head to prevent Orlando from taking a deserved three points in that one, while Brian Rowe held down the fort at the other end to earn a shutout in Pedro Gallese’s absence.

Back on Sept. 5, 2020, a late, unforced turnover by Kamal Miller led to Adam Jahn’s 92nd-minute tying goal that offset a Benji Michel goal in a 1-1 draw at Exploria Stadium. Orlando City finally got on the board in the series against Atlanta United with a 3-1 win on the road on Aug. 29, 2020. Junior Urso, Mueller, and Nani supplied the offense to more than counter a Brooks Lennon headed goal. That three-goal explosion snapped a three-match scoreless streak against the Five Stripes for Orlando.

Orlando City created an incredible 17 scoring chances on Aug. 23, 2019, yet finished none of them in a 1-0 home loss. Martinez scored the game’s only goal in the second half. Only 17 days earlier at Exploria Stadium, Orlando also failed to score and lost 2-0 to Atlanta, getting bounced from the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. On Mother’s Day of 2019, Atlanta United claimed a 1-0 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Pity Martinez scored the goal.

Atlanta won at the building then known as Orlando City Stadium on Aug. 24, 2018 by a 2-1 final score. Leandro Gonzalez Pirez bundled home a rebound off Joe Bendik, who misplayed Barco’s free kick to open the scoring just 21 minutes in. Scott Sutter tied the game just before the half, but Josef Martinez broke the deadlock in the second half, with only 16 minutes remaining in normal time.

Atlanta easily claimed the June 30, 2018 meeting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 4-0. Josef Martinez and Barco each scored a goal and Miguel Almiron added a brace. Orlando lost the first matchup of 2018, 2-1, on May 13. An early penalty on a Cristian Higuita foul gave the visitors a leg up on a Josef Martinez goal from the spot and Barco doubled the lead before halftime. Justin Meram scored his first goal as a Lion to pull one back, but Orlando could get no closer. The unfortunate ending included a shower of debris coming out of the stands due to dissatisfaction with referee Alan Kelly’s decisions that night.

Hector Villalba’s two late goals in the first two meetings turned what could have been an Orlando draw and a win into a loss and a draw. The two teams kicked off their series with Orlando suffering a late 1-0 loss at home on July 21, 2017. Villalba found the net late. Villalba then scored a stoppage-time tally to rescue a 1-1 draw for Atlanta in the second meeting on July 29, 2017. Kaká scored one of his best goals as a Lion in that match to provide Orlando’s lone score.

Orlando City became the first visiting team to take any points out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 3-3 draw in Atlanta that September. Dom Dwyer scored his first brace as a Lion (in MLS, anyway) and also assisted on Cyle Larin’s goal. Josef Martinez’s hat trick spoiled Orlando’s bid to take all three points.

Overview

Orlando is coming off a 3-1 win at FC Cincinnati two weeks ago. The Lions have won three straight games and six of their last seven. Additionally, Orlando City is 7-0-1 in its last eight home matches in league play and 8-0-3 at the purple palace in all competitions since June 15, having overturned a poor start to the season at home to amass a 7-5-4 record at Inter&Co Stadium in MLS matches.

Atlanta United is coming off a 2-1 win at home over the New York Red Bulls in its last game Oct. 5. That win snapped a skid of 0-2-3 and kept the Five Stripes’ faint playoff hopes alive. Atlanta is 3-7-6 on the road this season but 1-0-2 in its last three away from home.

Orlando City’s defense will have to keep tabs on Lobjanidze, who leads Atlanta in goals (8) and is second in assists (7), as well as Daniel Rios, who has chipped in seven goals and four assists for an Atlanta team coached (in the interim) by former USL Lion Rob Valentino. Brooks Lennon is also an important part of the offense, leading Atlanta with eight assists on the year.

The Lions would clinch fourth place with a win or any dropped points by New York City FC tonight. Atlanta can still make the postseason with a win if it gets help in multiple games elsewhere. So, there’s a lot for both teams to play for.

“We know Atlanta [United] has urgency and probably more than just urgency,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “They are in their last opportunity to qualify (for the playoffs), and this is a game for us to represent a lot as well. It’s a rivalry on its own, but also just gives us an opportunity to clinch fourth place and give us that advantage. It will be taken like always, with the same responsibility.”

Orlando City will be without midfielder Wilder Cartagena (yellow card suspension), so he’ll have missed both games against Atlanta this season due to suspensions. The Lions will also be without Mason Stajduhar (lower leg), but everyone else is off the team’s availability report. Atlanta will be without Edwin Mosquera (knee) and Quentin Westberg (concussion protocol). 

Match Content

• The latest episode of The Mane Land PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for the match.
• Our David Rohe provided his three keys to an Orlando City victory in tonight’s match.
• Ben Miller outlined why clinching fourth place is so important for the Lions today.

Projected Lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith.

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Nico Lodeiro.

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

Forward: Ramiro Enrique.

Atlanta United (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Brad Guzan.

Defenders: Pedro Amador, Derrick Williams, Stian Gregersen, Ronald Hernandez.

Defensive Midfielders: Ajani Fortune, Bartosz Slisz.

Attacking Midfielders: Tyler Wolff, Aleksey Miranchuk, Saba Lobjanidze.

Forward: Jamal Thiare.

Referees

REF: Rubiel Vazquez.
AR1: Kyle Atkins.
AR2: Jose Da Silva.
4TH: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
AVAR: Tom Supple.

How to Watch

Match Time: 6 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

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

Radio:  Real Radio 104.1 FM (English), Mega 97.1 (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!