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

Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday opening night matchup between Orlando City (3-2-1, 10 points) and the Philadelphia Union (4-2-0, 12 points) at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second and final scheduled regular-season meeting between the Eastern Conference clubs in 2025.

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

History

Orlando City is 7-8-6 in the 21 MLS meetings with the Union since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015, and 8-9-7 in all competitions. The Lions are 4-5-1 against the Union on the road in league play and 4-6-1 at Philadelphia in all competitions.

These two teams kicked off the 2025 season against each other in Orlando on Feb. 22, with the Union stunning the Lions by scoring on all four of the team’s shots on target, taking advantage of individual mistakes in a 4-2 win. Marco Pasalic scored his first two goals as a Lion in his first OCSC appearance that night, but Tai Baribo scored a brace, with Daniel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre also scoring for Philadelphia. The Lions dominated open play but could not pay off their chances while the Union were lethal. It was Orlando’s first loss on opening day in its MLS existence.

The teams last met in 2024 on Oct. 2, when the Lions won 2-1 at home. Facundo Torres and Duncan McGuire pushed Orlando out to a 2-0 lead. Luis Muriel assisted on both goals. Quinn Sullivan pulled one back but the Lions hung on. The teams met for the first time last year on May 11, with the Lions snatching a 3-2 road win at Subaru Park. Muriel scored his first two MLS goals, McGuire added a strike, and Nico Lodeiro assisted on all three tallies for the Lions to offset an early goal by Uhre and a penalty by Gazdag.

The last meeting of 2023 took place in Orlando on June 21, with the Lions blowing a two-goal lead in a controversial 2-2 draw. McGuire and Martin Ojeda scored early in each half, only to see Jack McGlynn score on a cross into the box that missed everyone and got past Mason Stajduhar at the far post, followed by a rocket shot by Jose Martinez from distance. Ivan Angulo’s would-be game winner was chalked off after a questionable foul call in the buildup against Ercan Kara.

The teams met in Philadelphia on March 25, 2023 with the Lions jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Angulo and Ojeda. Former Lion Andres Perea pulled one back, but the Lions held on for a 2-1 road win. The victory snapped Philadelphia’s incredible 24-match home unbeaten streak.

The Union put the Lions to the sword in the last meeting of 2022, a dominant 5-1 win by Philadelphia on Sept. 10 of that year. That was Orlando’s first match since winning the U.S. Open Cup title three days earlier. Joao Moutinho’s own goal started the scoring and the Union got goals from Uhre, Gazdag (penalty), Alejandro Bedoya, and Jack Elliott. Perea, who was then still a Lion, scored for Orlando, but the team was trailing by 4-0 at the time.

The Eastern Conference foes met on July 23, 2022 at Exploria Stadium. Two controversial video review decisions went against Orlando that night and the Lions were wasteful with their chances in an evenly matched 1-0 Philadelphia win. Gazdag scored the game’s only goal off a set piece.

The teams also met in U.S. Open Cup play on May 10, 2022, with the Lions winning 2-1 at home. Kara and Perea hoisted Orlando to a 2-0 lead. Stuart Findlay pulled one back late, but the Lions saw it out and advanced.

On Sept. 19, 2021 the Union prevailed 3-1 at Subaru Park, largely due to a brace by Kacper Przybylko after he got away with what appeared to be a clear elbow to the face of Rodrigo Schlegel. Instead of being sent off and/or conceding a free kick to Orlando City, the Union scored on the ensuing play and went on to win the match. The teams met in Orlando on July 22, 2021 and the Lions got goals by Benji Michel and Perea on the team’s only two shots on target to win 2-1. Przybylko, who had feasted on Orlando since arriving in Philadelphia, pulled one back for the visitors but the Lions hung on.

The teams faced each other in the group stage of the MLS is Back Tournament in 2020 in the only meeting to date that did not take place in either side’s home stadium. The game ended in a 1-1 draw after a Mauricio Pereyra goal canceled out a strike by Ilsinho. That draw allowed the Lions to win Group A in the competition and they went on to reach the final.

The Lions and Union tangled in what was then known as Talen Energy Stadium on July 7, 2019, with the teams drawing, 2-2. Dom Dwyer and Santiago Patino brought Orlando back from 1-0 down but Przybylko poached a goal in the 90th to capture a share of the points for the Union.

The two teams had met just a few days earlier on July 3, ending in Orlando’s 3-1 home loss against the Union. Chris Mueller and Przybylko swapped goals in the first half before Robin Jansson was sent off just prior to the break. Afterwards, the 10-man Lions gave up two more goals — to Przybylko and Fafa Picault — and then went down another man with Sacha Kljestan seeing red.

In 2018, the teams drew 2-2 on Sept. 1 in Orlando. The Lions prevailed over the Union in Philadelphia on April 13, 2018 by a 2-0 score. Orlando and Philadelphia also met that season in U.S. Open Cup play, with the Union capturing a 1-0 home win back on July 18, 2018 on a goal by Bedoya.

The teams split their two matches in 2017, with the home side prevailing both times. The Lions won 2-1 at Orlando City Stadium on March 18. The rematch was an ugly 6-1 Philadelphia win in the season finale for both teams.

The Lions were 1-1-1 against Philadelphia in 2016. The team’s first road victory in the series came on Oct. 16, 2016, as the Lions roared, 2-0. The teams played to a 2-2 draw on May 25 in Orlando. Tranquillo Barnetta’s free kick gave Philly a 2-1 win.

Orlando drew 0-0 at home and lost on the road, 1-0 (on a penalty kick), against Philadelphia in 2015.

Overview

Orlando City is coming off a 2-1 comeback win over the Galaxy in LA a week ago. Christian Ramirez scored in the first half for LA, but Ojeda converted a penalty won by Eduard Atuesta and Muriel scored in the 90th minute on a high, long-range free kick that John McCarthy spilled into his own net. The Lions have won two consecutive matches for the first time in 2025 and are unbeaten in their last three (2-0-1). Tonight marks the team’s fourth road match in a five-game span. Orlando is 1-1-1 away from home this season.

The Union have lost two of their last three after last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Inter Miami in a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia is 2-1-0 at home this season and is generally difficult to beat in Subaru Park. Under new coach Bradley Carnell, the Union trail only Orlando City in goals scored in MLS, with 13 to the Lions’ 15. However, Philly has conceded eight times in 2025 compared to Orlando’s co-league-worst 12.

Baribo is not only the MLS Player of the Month for February/March, he’s leading the Golden Boot race with six goals in five matches played. A third of those goals came against Orlando in the opener, meaning the Lions will need to stay focused and compact defensively. Baribo is by no means the only Union player that can do damage. Gazdag, who has two goals and two assists on the season, seemingly nearly always scores against Orlando and Uhre has hurt the Lions in the past as well. The trio accounted for 36 goals and 11 assists in 2024.

Philadelphia will look to take the ball away and create in transition. The key to Orlando’s success will be beating Philly’s press and getting at the back line in front of standout goalkeeper Andre Blake. Orlando did well with the first part of that in late February, but struggled to either beat Blake or put shots on frame, firing 24 times with 10 on target, but only scoring twice.

“Preparation has been good so far. The aura within the group is great after a great result in LA,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “We’re enthusiastic about going on the road again and trying to add more points. This is a game that we played in the opener not long ago, where we have some context that we can use, and surely they [Philadelphia] will do it too. At this point, we have that ambition to go and fight for our three points there.” 

Orlando City will be without Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), Yutaro Tsukada (knee), Nico Rodriguez (thigh), and Favian Loyola (thigh). Philadelphia’s Kai Wagner (oblique) is also out.

Match Content

• Our Intelligence Report features insight into the Union from Matt Ralph of the independent Philadelphia blog Philadelphia Soccer Now.
• The most recent PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s game.
• Our David Rohe provided his three keys to an Orlando City victory over Philadelphia.

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-2-3-1),

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.

Defensive Midfielders: Joran Gerbet, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Attacking Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Luis Muriel.

Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Kyle Smith, Thomas Williams, Colin Guske, Gustavo Caraballo, Shak Mohammed, Ramiro Enrique, Duncan McGuire.

Philadelphia Union (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Andre Blake.

Defenders: Nathan Harriel, Ian Glavinovich, Jakob Glesnes, Frankie Westfield.

Midfielders: Quinn Sullivan, Danley Jean-Jacques, Jovan Lukic, Daniel Gazdag.

Forwards: Tai Baribo, Bruno Damiani.

Bench: Andrew Rick, Olivier Mbaizo, Olwethu Makhanya, Jesus Bueno, Alejandro Bedoya, Cavan Sullivan, Chris Donovan, Indiana Vassilev, Mikael Uhre.

Referees:

REF: Ismir Pekmic.
AR1: Gerard-Kader Lebuis.
AR2: Eduardo Jeff.
4TH: Luis Diego Arroyo.
VAR: Younes Marrakchi.
AVAR: Brian Dunn.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Subaru Park — Chester, PA.

TV/Streaming: 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 Orlando City’s official Twitter feed (@OrlandoCitySC).

Enjoy the match. Go City!