Orlando City
The Mane Land Roundtable: 2025 Orlando City Preseason Thoughts
The staff weighs in on the season to come in advance of Oscar Pareja’s sixth season in charge of the Lions.

As we head into the 2025 MLS season this weekend, it’s time to once again get a feel for the hopes and expectations for the campaign that awaits. Orlando City enters the season with more questions about team depth and offense than usual after losing the club’s all-time scoring leader when Facundo Torres transferred to Brazil.
I reached out to The Mane Land staff to find out what everyone is thinking ahead of the Lions’ 11th season in Major League Soccer. Big thanks to the entire staff for submitting their thoughts.
Orlando City came within one game of its first MLS Cup final in 2024. Do you think the club did enough in the off-season to get over the hump and reach the title game?
Nic Josey: Frankly, no. I don’t think that the club did nearly enough to maximize its chance of making the title game in MLS. This is likely the end of the “win now” window for the current iteration of Orlando City, and with an injured McGuire, losing Torres, and still having questions in the midfield and on defense, it would have been more reassuring to see the club take bigger swings this off-season.
David Rohe: Absolutely not. This is a club that has struggled in the final third, especially early in the season. They sold the all-time leading scorer in Torres, and McGuire is injured. Unless they intend to run the legs off of Ramiro Enrique and hope that Luis Muriel suddenly becomes a typical in-the-box striker at this late stage of his career, things look shaky. The club added a relatively unknown DP in Marco Pasalic. I’m happy to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I’m not expecting him to replace the goal contributions of Torres. This club needed more goals when Torres was here. Now, they are in a bigger deficit. I’m saying they needed to go find a good MLS striker before now, and did not do so.
Ben Miller: Nope. The team lost its best offensive player from a squad that had trouble scoring at times last year, and while we haven’t seen a competitive game yet, the roster is weaker on paper than the one which came up short in the Eastern Conference final. Plus, a lot of teams in the East spent the off-season loading up and stockpiling high octane attacking talent, while Orlando City…just didn’t. Pasalic and Nicolas Rodriguez may prove to be astute signings in the end, but right now they don’t know the league and haven’t lit up their previous homes with the type of numbers that suggest they’ll assimilate immediately. It’s impossible to say what the season will hold, but from where we stand now, I don’t see how the team improves on what it did last year.
Joshua Taylor: It won’t be easy for Orlando City to return to another Eastern Conference final after coming short of making its first MLS Cup last season. With Torres leaving the club for Palmeiras during the off-season, the club was able to add Pasalic and Eduard Atuesta to fill big holes. Orlando has gotten off to slow starts in previous two seasons but turned its form around midseason in the second half. I don’t see Orlando as one of the top four seeds in the East this year, but the Lions can sneak into the playoffs as a lower seed and could do some damage in the playoffs.
Sean Rollins: Unfortunately, I don’t think the club did enough to improve on last season. If they had kept Torres, the additions they made would have improved the team. However, those are some giant shoes to fill, and I’m not sure anyone currently in the squad can do so.
Marcus Mitchell: Definitely not. The Lions only had four goals in those five playoff games last year and Torres scored two of those, including that clutch equalizer against Charlotte FC. He’s gone, and the team didn’t bring in the necessary worldbeater to make the title game a realistic aspiration this year. Add in the injuries and departures and this team may not make it out of the first round.
Andrew DeSalvo: While I think they can reach the title game with what they have, I do not think that they will, and I do not think that their off-season moves changed the ceiling of this team. The best case scenario from the off-season is that they brought in two starters (Atuesta and Pasalic ) who will be as good as the players they replaced (Wilder Cartagena and Torres), but I do not think either will perform significantly better. Rodriguez is a wild card. He could be a late game offensive threat off the bench or he could be an unused sub, and Joran Gerbet is likely not going to play a lot of minutes behind the double A batteries of Cesar Araújo and Atuesta. The biggest moves of the off-season might end up being moves of returning players moving to play in other positions to get more talent onto the field. I’m thinking in particular of Dagur Dan Thórhallsson perhaps moving to get Alex Freeman on the field or Enrique moving to get McGuire on the field, but there could be others as well.
My Take: The sentiments of my colleagues is more pessimistic this year. I can’t find fault with that. If you are that close to a championship game and don’t take a big swing, when do you take one? I realize that it’s not always easy to pull off the moves you want to make, and there is a responsibility to be financially smart for sustained success, but again, if this wasn’t the year to let some dollars fly, when is it time? Pasalic isn’t likely to be as good as Torres, and he couldn’t get the team over the hump.

The Facundo Torres sale was a bit surprising due to his signing a new contract prior to 2024 and adopting the No. 10 shirt. Do you think the Lions’ technical staff adequately replaced the team’s best player?
Andrew: I would really like to use a wishy-washy term here like maybe or possibly, but nobody wants to read an answer like that. I think that the club adequately replaced Torres, but they did not go out and, to mix sports metaphors, hit a home run with their personnel moves. They could have moved Enrique out to the wing and gone after a top tier striker, or moved Martin Ojeda back out to the wing and found an attacking midfielder who could play in the middle, but instead they opted for a like-for-like replacement by bringing in two left-foot dominant wing midfielders to replace the left-foot dominant Torres. The team was solid but not great last year, and I think that with the players they brought in, their range is something similar in 2024, making their acquisitions adequate but not electrifying. The top end of their range is still pretty high though.
Nic: Palasic seems to have good technical skills and athleticism, but my gripe with the pick-up on the heels of Torres’ departure is that we lost a now club legend who only had a left foot and added a lesser known commodity who also only has a left foot. Maybe it will work out. I am glad the club got a record sale out of Torres, but I don’t think OCSC did enough to replace him.
Dave: I somewhat addressed this in the first question, but the short answer is no. The more nuanced answer is that Ojeda will likely play a much bigger role, and that Pasalic doesn’t necessarily need to be a one-for-one replacement for Torres. It’s Torres’ goal contributions that will be missed. I think Ojeda will play the 10 role more effectively, and hopefully Pasalic will be able to adapt quickly and start scoring goals. How quickly that happens will determine whether the club adequately replaced Torres. I’m skeptical but open to being proven wrong.
Ben: I hinted at my feelings in my answer to the first question, but no I don’t. Early looks at Pasalic seem to suggest he’s even more one-footed than Torres was, and that’s saying something. If he doesn’t show himself to be capable of offering some sort of threat with his weak foot, then I just don’t see how he’s going to provide the type of threat and production Orlando needs from a DP winger. Rodriguez gets more leash as an MLS U22 Initiative player, but when you came within one win of playing for a trophy last year, it feels like you need more surefire offensive talent than Orlando went out and got.
Joshua: Replacing Torres’ goal-scoring production from last season will be tough. McGuire, Enrique, and Ivan Angulo were the Lions’ next top three goal scorers in league play from the 2024 season with 10, nine, and five, respectively. McGuire will miss the first few months of the season due to a shoulder injury, so Orlando will turn to Enrique to be the main striker. Ojeda can dictate the match with his playmaking ability as an attacking midfielder to help the Lions attack. The only other concern would be potential injuries, so the club may have to turn to its young players, such as Rodriguez, to fill in key positions when called upon during the season.
Sean: While the Lions made some solid additions this off-season, you’re looking to replace the club’s all-time top goal scorer. That’s not an easy feat. I think the player most likely to replace the production of Torres is Ojeda, especially if he can improve the way he did late last year. However, I don’t even see him making the impact Torres did.
Marcus: They haven’t this season, though I do think Pasalic and Rodriguez can provide adequate enough cover to serve as a bandage this season. I don’t think the club had to fully replace him ahead of this season and Ojeda’s contract is up after this year. [Editor’s note: the club has options for 2026 and 2027 on Ojeda.] Bringing in a right winger now and then taking a big swing at a star No. 10 for 2026 makes plenty of sense to me.
My Take: No. I don’t think enough was done this off-season. Even if the club had overpaid for Evander, Lucho Acosta, or Alex Zendejas as that third DP, it would have been worthwhile to do so if it meant a trophy.

What newcomer to the team are you most excited to see play in 2025?
Marcus: I’m pretty excited to see what Gerbet can bring to this team. There’s plenty of opportunity for him in the midfield, and the Lions have a decent track record at developing defensive-minded midfielders and nailing draft picks. If he can become a solid enough player to help mitigate what feels like Araujo’s inevitable departure in the future, it would go a long way for Orlando.
Andrew: Pasalic. As odd as it might be to see a player wearing the number 87 flying down a soccer field, I am excited to see what he can do. Going into the summer of 2023, Pasalic was playing with Borussia Dortmund II and valued at around $365,000, and in just over 18 months his value went up more than 10 times and he is now playing with the Croatian Men’s National Team in qualifying matches. I believe he has not peaked and he can continue to improve, and while I do not expect him to match other 87s like Sidney Crosby or Rob Gronkowski, I think he will have a solid debut season for Orlando City.
Nic: I am most excited to see Atuesta play in 2025. While I love the pairing of Cartagena and Araujo, I think that Atuesta will provide a bit more of a offensive spark which Orlando will sorely need.
Dave: It has to be Atuesta. I thought he looked excellent in the preseason match against Inter Miami. With Cartagena out for the season, his arrival is just what the midfield needed to maintain the high defensive standards of the past few seasons. It was also nice to see the club bring in a player with MLS experience, which is something they usually seem adverse to doing. Atuesta is the new player that will have the biggest impact for the club this season.
Ben: I really like what I’ve seen out of Atuesta so far. It’s a damn shame that Cartagena got hurt and his season is over. I, and this team, will miss him terribly. That being said, Atuesta looks to be about as good of a replacement as Orlando could have hoped for. Early viewings seem to indicate that he might offer more going forward than Wilder did, which would be very welcome given my concerns about the capabilities of Orlando’s more conventional attacking players.
Joshua: I’m excited about Orlando City’s recent addition of Atuesta. With Cartagena sidelined with a torn Achilles injury, Atuesta will get a chance to make an impact on the pitch immediately. He can control the midfield, pick out key passes to help the Lions’ attack on offense, and push the ball forward. He’ll get to work alongside Araujo and can create goal-scoring chances. Atuesta has won trophies with his previous stops at Independiente Medellin, LAFC, and Palmeiras. Hopefully, he can help Orlando win the big trophy we want, and that’s an MLS Cup.
Sean: I’m most excited to see Pasalic play this season. We saw a glimpse of him during a couple of preseason games, just enough to whet our appetite. He played well enough to excite me about seeing him more when the regular season begins.
My Take: I am excited to see Pasalic. I want to see what it was about him that made the technical staff select him as the replacement for Torres. I hope he shows us that.

Which player do you think will make the biggest jump from 2024 to 2025?
Sean: I think Ojeda will make the biggest jump from 2024 to 2025. He improved quite a bit last year but was still second in the attack to Torres. He’ll be the go-to man in the attacking midfield this year and I think he’ll make a much bigger impact.
Marcus: I’ll go with Shak Mohammed. It’s a contract year and he should get more minutes with Jack Lynn retired. He led OCB with 11 goals last year and I could see him carving out a role as a super sub. I would be surprised if he makes the MLS 22 Under 22 list, but I do think it’s in the realm of possibility.
Andrew: I think Muriel provides much more offense in 2025 than he did in 2024 and makes a big jump in goal contributions. He seemed more and more comfortable as the season went along last year, and I think that translates into a sizeable jump in performance. I think with Muriel it is likely to be more with assists than goals, though with Torres gone, he may take over as the penalty taker when he is on the field as well.
Nic: I think Ojeda will have the biggest jump this year based upon what he showed down the stretch last season and also because frankly the team needs him to make the biggest jump if the season is going to be successful. He needs to finish the year with a minimum of at least 10 goals and 10 assists, which would only be four additional goal contributions over what he put up each of the last two seasons (16).
Dave: While I hope it’s Enrique because he doubles his goal contributions, I’ll say I think Freeman will make the biggest jump. The youngster is going from mostly playing for OCB to challenging Thorhallsson for minutes at right back. Even before the departure of Michael Halliday, I think he had cemented the number two spot at that position. In fact, if he improves enough, he may get the start so Oscar has Thorhallsson to use in the midfield.
Ben: I think we’ll see more of Freeman this year. Halliday is now a member of the Houston Dynamo, leaving Freeman and Kyle Smith as the only two backup fullbacks on the roster. He only made two league appearances last year, but I think we’ll be seeing a lot of him off the bench for either Thorhallsson or Rafael Santos. He and Smith will also rotate in for those two if they have knocks or the fixtures are piling up, and I really think we’ll see some good things from him.
Joshua: Enrique will be a player I’m keeping my eye on this season. He finished third last season with 12 goals across all competitions. His form dipped at times throughout last season, but he has proven to be a double-digit goal scorer. Enrique will enter his third season with the Lions and continue developing his game. He gets a huge opportunity to take that next step now, leading the attack for Orlando at the start of the season, and hopefully, he can capitalize on this chance and score more than the 12 goals he had with Orlando last season.
My Take: I agree with those above who expect Freeman and Ojeda to take a step forward, but it feels like Enrique is just starting to hit his prime and is growing in confidence. I like the diminutive Argentine striker to step up his offensive output if he can stay healthy.

Based on the squad under contract at this point, where do you see Orlando City finishing in the Eastern Conference at the end of the 2025 season?
Joshua: Orlando will finish sixth in the Eastern Conference and make the playoffs.
Sean: In terms of where they’ll finish in the regular season, I think they’re still good enough to finish fourth. I don’t think they’ll finish any higher and the squad is still too good to finish lower in the Eastern Conference.
Marcus: I’ll say sixth in the Eastern Conference. For me, the Lions hover in a second-tier group with clubs like Charlotte and the New York teams. I’m a bit bullish on the rebuilds by the New England Revolution and Chicago Fire, but ultimately I think Oscar Pareja is great at grinding out results and managing a congested schedule. It will be nailbiting at times and won’t be pretty, but I do think the Lions will take care of business when they need to.
Andrew: I have a feeling I am going to end up the most optimistic among my fellow lions of the roundtable, but I think the Lions are going to use their disappointing defeat in the 2024 playoffs and their lack of a distracting second competition early in the season to earn a third-place finish in the Eastern Conference.
Nic: I see the team hovering around the wild card spot all season and eventually sneaking into the playoffs at spot 6 or 7.
Dave: If I only consider the squad under contract, I’ll put them finishing in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a chance to make the playoffs in the play-in match. It’s quite the drop from a team that almost made the final last season, but I don’t feel the club did enough in the off-season to get better and other teams did. I really hope I’m wrong. I hope McGuire has a full yet speedy recovery. I hope that Pasalic produces at the DP level despite not doing so at his last club. I hope Enrique levels up to a starting MLS striker. I hope for a lot of things, but I’m not convinced any of them will happen.
Ben: Seventh. I don’t think Orlando’s roster is necessarily bad, but I absolutely don’t think it has enough to keep pace with what teams like Cincinnati, Atlanta, Miami, Columbus, Charlotte, and even the Red Bulls are going to be working with. That being said, if the defense can rebound from an uncharacteristically porous 2024, the new signings can adjust quickly and outperform current expectations, then the Lions could absolutely creep a few spots higher.
My Take: I’m going to say seventh, but even that’s entirely dependent on staying healthy. The depth took a hit, and even though I think some of the kids are ready to get more minutes, it doesn’t mean they’re going to perform at the same level as the starters.

What is the team’s most glaring weakness?
Ben: Offensive production. McGuire isn’t back from injury yet, and although Enrique didn’t have a bad 2024 with 8g/2a in 1,082 minutes, it would be really nice for him to push his scoring numbers higher. Luis Muriel’s 5g/7a in 1,582 minutes is nowhere near good enough for a DP striker, and while he offers a level of passing and dribbling that no one else on the team can match, Orlando really needs him to settle in properly and start piling up goal contributions consistently. Both men have shown themselves to be capable of really good things, but we have no evidence of either being able to do so on a consistent basis. Add in the question marks around Pasalic and Rodriguez, and there are some very real concerns about where the goals are going to come from for this team.
Joshua: My concern with Orlando is who will step up to carry the attack on this team after the departure of Torres this off-season. McGuire will be out for the first few months of the season. The Lions brought in Pasalic as a Designated Player to replace Torres, but he only scored four goals in 19 matches for HNK Rijeka. Many fans will focus on Facu’s replacement, but it will take time for him to adjust from playing in Croatia to playing in Major League Soccer. Pasalic will need time to develop chemistry with his fellow midfielders. Enrique will be the main striker up front, but players like Angulo, Muriel, and Pasalic will need to step up to score goals if Enrique gets off to a slow start early on in the season.
Sean: The most glaring weakness to me is the striker position. We’re still not sure how long McGuire will be out, and while Enrique played better last year, nobody has really scared opposing defenses since Daryl Dike left.
Marcus: While I can’t call this team a glass cannon due to my worries about it scoring a lot of goals, the fragility of things heading into the season is concerning. There’s not much depth at key positions. An injury to Pedro Gallese could spell doom after the club traded away Mason Stajduhar; the team did not bring in a safety net fourth center back; and things could get hairy if Enrique or Muriel go down. Cartagena is already done for the year, and things could get ugly fast if the team’s youth is thrown from the frying pan into the fire.
Andrew: Besides an insistence on taking short corners? I think there is a lack of MLS quality depth out on the wings. Ojeda and Enrique could slot in as attacking wing midfielders, but they are ensconced in their starting roles in the middle to open the season, and behind Angulo and Pasalic there are only question marks. Just like in Super Mario, question marks can turn into stars, but for now, my concern is that if there is an injury or if Pasalic has trouble adjusting to the league, then the next players up have all basically never played any minutes in a league of this caliber, or the team will be forced into making major structural changes across the attacking group.
Nic: I think the most glaring weakness is the same as it has been for the last few years, putting shots on frame and scoring goals.
Dave: It should be obvious from my other answers, but the lack of striker options is the most glaring weakness. Enrique is not a prototypical striker or even currently a starting level MLS striker, but he’ll get the start for Pareja at least until McGuire returns. Speaking of McGuire, we don’t know when he’ll return, nor how long it will take him to get back to form. Like Enrique, but for different reasons, Muriel is not a prototypical striker. He very obviously prefers to hang out outside of, or at the top of, the 18-yard box. Orlando City needs a big body that can occupy space in front of goal, and until McGuire returns, the Lions simply do not have such a player.
My Take: I echo those lamenting the team’s lack of scoring and depth, and if pressed for an answer, I’ll say depth. Losing Nico Lodeiro and Stajduhar could be an issue. There’s no true 10 behind Ojeda (and many would argue even he is not a true 10, although I think he’s fine in that role). Until McGuire returns, your backup striker might be Mohammed. If injuries hit the center backs, and David Brekalo has been injury prone since arriving, Thomas Williams is not ready to step into the top flight and hold his own. Depth is weakness No. 1. The ability to finish in front of goal is weakness No. 2.

Bold prediction time: what is your spiciest prediction for Orlando City in the 2025 season?
Dave: Right now it feels a little bold to predict the Lions to make the playoffs, but that’s not very spicy. Instead, I’ll say the club wins the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for a second time. The trophy salvages what will be an otherwise disappointing MLS campaign. Even spicier, Pareja obviously tanks the Leagues Cup competition to make sure we win the Open Cup. Take that, Don Garber!
Ben: Orlando City finishes the season in the top five in the goals against category. As I mentioned earlier, the 2024 version of the Lions gave up an uncharacteristically high number of goals for a Pareja team. The Lions were on the end of a few ugly results (5-0, 4-3, 3-0, 3-2) that pushed that number higher than we usually see, but otherwise they had a solid defense for the most part. If the team does struggle to score, then it wouldn’t surprise me to see Papi go ultra-conservative, pack things in, and look to play on the counter and grind out 1-0 wins. I really like what Atuesta can offer in defensive midfield, and if Brekalo can break into the team, then I expect him and Robin Jansson to form a really effective partnership. If this team is going to do well this year, I think a resurgent defense will be a huge reason why.
Joshua: Orlando City will win both the U.S. Open Cup and the Leagues Cup.
Sean: My spicy prediction for this year is that Angulo will score on a breakaway. It’s a bold take because he’s shown absolutely no ability to do so, but it has to happen eventually. Right?
Marcus: Orlando City will win the U.S. Open Cup. The Lions could arguably be considered the favorite. None of the MLS teams in the field seem particularly difficult to take down on paper, Pareja and his guys know how to win this tournament, and the Lions have a proven track record when it comes to shootouts.
Andrew: I think the back line group that starts the season, which will likely be (from left to right) Santos, Jansson, Schlegel, and Thórhallsson, will see three of those starting spots filled by a different player by the time the team gets into the homestretch of the season. I think Freeman will prove himself to be worthy of a starting role and take over as right back, allowing Thórhallsson to be a plug-and-play player who could get minutes all over the field in the mold of Smith. I also think Brekalo will seize a starting role from Schlegel at some point this season. And then, on the left side, it could be the aforementioned Thórhallsson who moves from right to left, or it may be Angulo who drops back and takes over the role and is used in the way that Pareja used Ruan when he was with the club. I can also see Santos as a possible candidate to move up to the midfield, so it may simply be that they try a switch of Santos and Angulo’s positions. You wanted spice, where does that rank on the Scoville scale of heat units?
Nic: I have two bold and spicy predictions for the season: the first is that Orlando will make the U.S. Open Cup final but ultimately lose in the championship match, and second, Orlando will not record a rivalry win this year, dropping all matches against Miami and Atlanta.
My Take: First of all, I want a hit of whatever Joshua is ingesting. This doesn’t feel like a two-trophy team to me. The boldest take I can conjure is that Enrique scores 20 goals in the regular season to set a new Orlando City single-season record. Starting from wire to wire could get him in that neighborhood if he takes a step forward and gets great service from Ojeda and Muriel.
If you made it to the end of this roundtable discussion, wow. Good job! It was a long one. But there were many more questions I wanted to ask. Maybe we should do a two-parter next year.
Let us know in the comments where you agree and disagree with us, and give us your own bold predictions.
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The recently offensively challenged Lions return home to face a red-hot Revolution side with the best defense in MLS.

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (4-2-5, 17 points) and the New England Revolution (5-4-1, 16 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the first of the two scheduled meetings between the two MLS Eastern Conference rivals this season with the Lions scheduled to make the return trip to Massachussetts on July 19.
Here’s what you need to know for the match.
History
The Lions are 5-7-7 in the regular-season series against New England and 6-8-7 in all competitions. At home, Orlando City is 4-1-5 against the Revs in the regular season and 5-2-5 in all competitions.
The last meeting between the teams took place on Sept. 14, 2024, with the Lions completing their first-ever sweep of the Revs with a 3-0 win. Rafael Santos, Facundo Torres (from the penalty spot), and Duncan McGuire provided the offense in a dominant performance. The teams previously met on July 13 at Gillette Stadium, where the Lions won for the first time, handing the Revs a 3-1 home loss. Torres’ brace led the way to an Orlando comeback, with Ramiro Enrique also scoring to overturn an early 1-0 deficit provided by Giacomo Vrioni.
The teams met 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 McGuire and 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 goal 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 later 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. Shortly after Akindele’s own goal opened the scoring, Nani tied things up. 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.
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. 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 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. New England won at Gillette Stadium that year by a 4-0 count.
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 is coming off its fourth scoreless draw in five matches. The 0-0 result at Chicago was a hard pill to swallow, as the Lions were up a man for more than half the match. While the lineup hasn’t exactly been the same for all of the recent scoreless draws, the common denominator is that midfielder Eduard Atuesta has missed time. He had tightness the first time but shortly after returning to the lineup for Orlando’s 3-0 win over Atlanta United, he sustained a neck injury in training and was listed as out again tonight on the club’s availability report.
The Lions are unbeaten in eight games (3-0-5), but a lack of offense has cost them two points four times during that run, as 0-0 draws could easily have become 1-0 (or better) wins with more lethal finishing. Orlando City has shut out five consecutive MLS opponents and a heavily rotated side also blanked the Tampa Bay Rowdies in St. Petersburg 5-0 on Wednesday for a sixth straight shutout in all competitions.
The Revolution are ninth in the Eastern Conference and sit just one point behind Orlando City. New England may be the league’s hottest team, arriving in Central Florida riding a four-game winning streak in the league without allowing a goal in that span, as well as a five-match winning streak in all competitions after Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup road victory over Rhode Island SC. Goals won’t be easy to come by, as the Revs boast the league’s best defense, allowing just seven goals in 10 matches this season. The team’s weak spot has been offense, with just nine goals to New England’s credit in 2025 — the third fewest in the Eastern Conference. However, the Revs have scored six of those goals during this four-game run, which has been sparked by a formation change to a 5-3-2, with the wingbacks pushing up while in possession.
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 and an assist for six goal contributions — two-thirds of those the Revolution have scored this season. Leo Campana has two of the other three goals after arriving in New England via trade from Inter Miami.
“New England is a team that we have seen in the last four or five games that has changed their structures,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “We have seen noticeable changes from the way they played before in the first part of the season. But a reference of the players that we also know. So, we’re trying to be prepared for it.”
Orlando City will be without Atuesta (neck), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Joran Gerbet (lower leg) and Favian Loyola (thigh) are questionable. New England will be without Malcolm Fry (leg), while Tomás Chancalay (groin) and Luca Langoni (quad) are questionable.
Match Content
- Our Intelligence Report provides more info on the Revs from Jake Catanese from independent New England blog, The Blazing Musket.
- Our most recent 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.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Joran Gerbet, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Luis Muriel, Martin Ojeda.
Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Colin Guske, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Gustavo Caraballo, Justin Ellis, Ramiro Enrique, Duncan McGuire.
New England Revolution (5-3-2)
Goalkeeper: Aljaz Ivacic.
Defenders/Wingbacks: Peyton Miller, Mamadou Fofana, Brayan Ceballos, Tanner Beason, Ilay Feingold.
Midfielders: Matt Polster, Carles Gil, Alhassan Yusuf.
Forwards: Leo Campana, Ignatius Ganago.
Bench: Alex Bono, Brandon Bye, Wyatt Omsberg, Will Sands, Keegan Hughes, Luis Diaz Espinoza, Jackson Yueill, Cristiano Oliveira, Maxi Urruti.
Referees
Ref: Rubiel Vazquez.
AR1: Cory Richardson.
AR2: Rhett Hammil.
4th: Elton Garcia.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:30p.m. ET.
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.
TV/Live Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).
Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.
Enjoy the match. Go City!
Orlando City
Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New England Revolution
Get to know this year’s New England Revolution team courtesy of someone who knows them best.

Orlando City remembered how to score on Wednesday night, as the Lions put five goals past the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the U.S. Open Cup. OCSC will try to carry that sort of offensive performance over to league play Saturday, when the New England Revolution come to town.
A match against the Revs means I caught up with Jake Catanese, one of the writers over at The Blazing Musket. As always, he was extremely helpful in bringing us up to speed on what this year’s version of the Revolution looks like.
Talk me through the Revolution’s off-season transfer business. Who are some of the new names to know?
Jake Catanese: Okay, so some of the new faces are from the end of last year: winger Luca Langoni and midfielder Alhassan Yusuf were both acquired back in August. Yusuf is a Nigerian international and has cemented himself in the lineup as one of the holding midfielders, and Langoni had a great spell at the end of the last year but was dropped to make room for the Revs’ newfangled 5-3-2 wingback setup — more on that in a bit. Also, Tomas Chancalay isn’t a new face but is fresh off the season-ending injury list from an ACL injury last May and is working his way back up to full fitness, and both he and Langoni started the USOC win against Rhode Island (Wednesday) along with MLS veterans Maxi Urruti and Jackson Yueill, who were picked up this off-season.
The big off-season stuff happened up front, with the Revs making a record GAM trade with Miami for Leo Campana and making an interesting short-term loan for Ligue 1’s Ignatius Ganago out of Nantes. In the Revs’ 4-2-3-1 setup to start the year, it was Campana as a lone striker and Ganago in what I’ll call the “Gustavo Bou” winger/striker role, but both have moved up top with the formation change and it’s been fairly successful. Campana did miss a month with a hamstring injury, which did not help the Revs early on, but the strike partnership is starting to blossom with productivity.
The Revs have been the best defensive team in the entire league, with just seven goals conceded in 10 games. What’s been the secret sauce there?
JC: To finish the rest of the question above, the Revs absolutely hit a massive home run with two new center backs in the off-season. Malian international Mamadou Fofana (age 27) and Colombian Brayan Ceballos (age 23) entered the starting lineup together and basically have been there ever since, and they’ve been tremendous. Ceballos got a Team of the Week nod on debut in Week 1 against Nashville and has been a solid aerial presence, which is something the Revs have struggled with in recent years. Fofana is tremendous on the ball and he’s passing at a 90% clip with an over 50% clip on long balls, as well with several deeper, line-breaking passes that have opened up the defense.
League veteran Tanner Beason was added as the third center back to go with Homegrown Peyton Miller and Israeli youngster Ilay Feingold as the wingbacks/fullbacks, and the Revs have pulled off effectively changing over their entire back line in one off-season, which, given the success this group is having, is rather unheard of. Combine that with keeper Aljaz Ivacic having a top season and his back line blocking a lot of shots for him as well, the Revs have a foundation that looks set for many years to come unless some big transfer offers come in.
The opposite side of that coin is the fact that New England has scored the third-fewest goals in the league with nine in 10 games. The Revs have come on stronger in recent weeks though, with six tallies in their last five matches. What’s changed for the Revs that has allowed the goals to start going in a little easier?
JC: Let me explain…no, there is too much, let me sum up. The Revs in a 4-2-3-1 to start the year were horrific. Campana’s injury didn’t help, but they weren’t moving the ball effectively up field to the attacking group, and turnovers often caught the fullbacks too high as well — almost a carbon copy of 2024, when the Revs were second to last in the East and more or less were to start this year as well. The solution was to drop the struggling Langoni and add a third center back and put Ganago into a second striker role, which on paper I had a lot of doubts about. However, Carles Gil is still a magician and the Revs did solve a major problem with the formation switch.
Having the wingbacks allows one of them to get forward without exposing the defense, so New England is able to switch the point of attack easier and not compromise their center back duo, because Beason is there to help put out any fires. Now the Revs get their width and deep support from the wingback spot and are able to use Miller and Feingold more effectively and confidently going forward, because they have enough strength in the back of the formation. It also helps that the two wingbacks have been really good with high passing numbers despite not registering any official assists yet. Feingold essentially had the assist on the Revs’ opener in Toronto last weekend, but his very dangerous initial cross into the box was half-cleared only to have Gil volley it top bins from the top of the box. Feingold isn’t the pure speedster Miller is, but as a duo they complement each other very well and bring back a 1-v-1 element the Revs really haven’t had since Tajon Buchanan.
Now, do I still think that Caleb Porter’s possession system is too slow and hampers the offense? Yes. Do I think the Revs should counterattack a lot more than they do currently? Also yes. Their two goals against Toronto were very direct — a turnover sent out wide to Feingold set up Gil and then a semi-broken play leading to a long through ball to Campana. I think this is when the Revs are at their most dangerous, because they generally have opponents on their back foot and not in an established and/or set back line. But they are improving and against Toronto were generating better chances and doing so more frequently. And despite their win streak, big chances have been a rarity so far this year. If New England is able to consistently counter and create chances inside the box, the defense is going to carry them very far and you will see this team protecting a lot of leads.
Will any players be unavailable due to injury, suspension, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?
JC: No suspensions to talk about, and most of the longterm injuries are off the board as well with Chancalay and Campana back in action. Andrew Farrell and Wyatt Omsberg were listed as questionable last week, but Farrell started in the midweek Open Cup game and Omsberg was on the bench and subbed on for the final 15 minutes. Youngster Malcolm Fry is likely the only person that will still be listed as out come gameday.
5-3-2: Aljaz Ivacic; Peyton Miller, Mamadou Fofana, Brayan Ceballos, Tanner Beason, Ilay Feingold; Alhassan Yusuf, Matt Polster, Carles Gil; Ignatius Ganago, Leonardo Campana.
Same lineup as last week in Toronto — the midfield triangle sees Carles Gil work his magic as the roaming No. 10, so you might see the wingbacks listed with the holding mids in a 3-4-1-2 looking thing. The running joke with the PawedCast demands I predict a 2-2 draw, but given the defensive stinginess of these two teams in the last month or so, I find it highly unlikely this game will have four goals in it…which is exactly why it will happen. We’ll add another to Carles’ tally and I think Mr. Ganago is due for another one. He’s been robbed a few too many times this year.
Thank you to Jake for the excellent primer on this year’s Revolution team. Vamos Orlando!

Lion Links
Lion Links: 5/9/25
Orlando City’s next U.S. Open Cup match date revealed, MLS matches to watch, top soccer club valuations, and more.

Welcome to Friday! I hope the week has treated you well as we get ready for a Mother’s Day weekend packed with soccer. Orlando City and the Orlando Pride are both in action at the same time on Saturday, so make sure to plan accordingly depending on how you want to enjoy the action. Let’s dive into today’s links!
Orlando City Will Face Nashville in USOC on May 21
Orlando City will officially host Nashville SC on May 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the U.S. Open Cup’s Round of 16. That match is sandwiched between a road game against Inter Miami on May 18 and a home game against the Portland Timbers May 24, so at least there won’t be much travel during that week during an already jam-packed month. The Lions reached this stage of the tournament after beating the Tampa Bay Rowdies 5-0 Wednesday, while Nashville won 1-0 against the Chattanooga Red Wolves on Tuesday.
What to Watch In MLS This Weekend
We’ll all be tuned in for Orlando City’s match on Saturday against the New England Revolution, but there’s plenty more MLS action to look forward to as well. Before Orlando’s match, Inter Miami will head to St. Paul to take on a Minnesota United team that leads the league with six clean sheets this season. Another notable match this weekend is a clash between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings when the Philadelphia Union host the Columbus Crew. That game has Daniel Gazdag written all over it. Sunday night’s match should be a doozy between two heavyweight Western Conference teams, as LAFC will hit the road to take on the league-leading Vancouver Whitecaps.
MLS Clubs Listed Among World’s Most Valuable
Sportico announced the valuations for the top 50 most valuable soccer clubs in the world, and a whopping 19 MLS teams made the list. The Lions aren’t included, but it’s still neat to see some clubs like Minnesota, Sporting Kansas City, and Charlotte FC listed. LAFC is the highest listed MLS side, coming in at 16th with a $1.28 billion valuation. Real Madrid tops the list at $6.53 billion, and six of the top 10 are from the English Premier League. While valuations aren’t exactly hard evidence of success or influence, I think this is a testament to the growth and parity of MLS through an international lens.
English Clubs Reach Europa League Final
This year’s Europa League final will feature a pair of EPL teams as Manchester United and Tottenham breezed through the semifinals. United overcame a shaky first half to beat Athletic Club 4-1 at Old Trafford, with Mason Mount scoring two of the team’s four goals in the second half. Tottenham avoided an upset in Norway by winning 2-0 against Bodo/Glimt. The final will take place on May 21 in Spain, and there’s both a trophy and Champions League qualification on the line. Both United and Tottenham struggled this season and are respectively 15th and 16th in the league standings, but winning the Europa League is all that matters now.
Free Kicks
- American midfielder Johnny Cardoso played every minute of Real Betis’ 2-2 result against Fiorentina to advance to the Europa Conference League final, where the Spanish club will face Chelsea on May 28. Enjoy this goal from Antony to help his side prevail.
- In honor of Mother’s Day, AC Milan players will wear their mothers’ last names on the back of their jerseys in today’s match against Bologna. I love this idea and hope more clubs follow suit moving forward.
- An ownership group led by David Beckham and Gary Neville acquired Salford City of England’s League Two.
- Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra’s MMA debut will have to wait, as the 43-year-old’s fight set for May 23 in Paris was postponed.
- We’ll end our links with what looks to be some unexpected Orlando Pride representation in Vatican City!
That’s all I have for you this time around. Have a fantastic Friday and enjoy the holiday weekend!
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