Orlando City vs. Nashville SC, U.S. Open Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread for a Wednesday night U.S. Open Cup matchup between Orlando City and Nashville SC at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., Paramount+) in the Round of 16. It’s the second match for both clubs in the competition.

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

History

The Lions are 4-2-4 against Nashville in MLS regular-season matches and 6-3-5 in all competitions. Orlando is 2-2-1 at home in the series in league play and 3-2-2 at home in all competitions. That includes a draw in the only previous U.S. Open Cup matchup between the sides in 2022. The Lions won the postgame penalty shootout to advance, ultimately winning the tournament that year.

The two teams last met on Aug. 31 of last season, with the Lions blasting Nashville 3-0. Facundo Torres’ brace and an opening goal by Ivan Angulo led Orlando City to the season sweep.

Orlando City visited Nashville SC at Geodis Park on July 17, with the Lions cruising to a 3-0 road win. Goals by Cesar Araujo and Ramiro Enrique sandwiched an Alex Muyl own goal as Orlando City got its fourth consecutive shutout victory over Nashville.

The teams met at the end of the previous season on Nov. 7, 2023 in the best-of-three, first-round playoff series. The Lions got an early goal from Angulo in a 1-0 win to sweep the series. Orlando City drew first blood in the series by beating Nashville 1-0 on Oct. 30, 2023 at Exploria Stadium. Wilder Cartagena’s blast from outside the area hit the underside of the crossbar near the right corner and bounced in for the game’s only score.

The teams met in the regular season on Oct. 4, 2023 with Orlando City stealing a 1-0 win in Music City on Duncan McGuire’s goal just before halftime. That was one of only two shot attempts by the Lions all night and the only one on target. Orlando played well defensively and Pedro Gallese didn’t have to make a save as the hosts didn’t put any shots on frame.

Nashville visited Orlando back on April 1 of 2023 at Exploria Stadium and it was the visitors who made fools of the Lions, as Nashville won, 2-0. Fafa Picault and Hany Mukhtar did the damage for Nashville.

The teams did not face each other in regular-season play the year before, meeting only in the U.S. Open Cup in Orlando on June 29, 2022. Mukhtar scored in the second half, and that looked like it would be enough until Rodrigo Schlegel equalized deep in stoppage time. After a scoreless 30 minutes of extra time, the Lions won the ensuing penalty shootout, 6-4.

These sides met in the 2021 postseason in Tennessee, with Orlando scoring first through Daryl Dike’s early goal, but Nashville won 3-1 on Nov. 23, 2021 to knock the Lions out of the playoffs. Mukhtar tied it up before halftime on a fluky deflected goal off of Antonio Carlos and then put his team up in the 74th minute on a counterattack. Jhonder Cadiz put things away deep in stoppage time.

The teams met in Orlando on Oct. 31, 2021 and ended in a 1-1 draw after referee Allen Chapman’s Halloween Heist chalked off Andres Perea’s apparent stoppage-time winner. The referee’s excuse for overturning the goal was an imagined foul on Dike, who, if anything, was the fouled party. The decision cost the Lions a valuable home playoff match, which instead sent Orlando to Nashville. Mukhtar scored for Nashville to equalize in the second half after Dike’s first-half goal.

The teams met in Nashville on Sept. 29, 2021 with a late rally by the Lions earning the team a 2-2 road draw at Nissan Stadium. The hosts had taken a 2-0 lead on goals by Mukhtar — scoring off the rebound of his own saved penalty — and Randall Leal, but a penalty by Dike and a stoppage-time own goal by Brian Anunga turned the game around. On Aug. 18 of that season, the teams finished in another 1-1 draw. C.J. Sapong put the hosts ahead in the first half and Carlos leveled the score in the second half. The Lions, who played poorly in the opening 45, were the better team throughout the second half and Tesho Akindele’s shot off the crossbar was inches from providing a winner for Orlando.

The teams met on Decision Day of 2020 at Exploria Stadium, with Orlando melting down late, allowing two goals from the 88th minute on, and falling 3-2 at home on Nov. 8, 2020 — the team’s only home loss on the season. Dike and Nani goals sandwiched a strike by Daniel Lovitz, giving the Lions a lead until late. Headers by Mukhtar (in the 88th minute) and Cadiz (in the 93rd minute) turned the game on its head.

In the Lions’ first trip to Nissan Stadium, the teams played to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 2, 2020. Benji Michel put the Lions ahead with a stunner of a goal, but Leal knotted things up and that’s the way the match ended.

That 1-1 draw came a week after a 3-1 Orlando City win on Aug. 26 at Exploria Stadium. Dave Romney had opened the scoring for Nashville with a header off a free kick but Orlando scored the last three. Dike took a star turn for Orlando City, scoring a brace, and Chris Mueller also scored for the Lions.

Overview

The Lions are coming off a 3-0 road win over Inter Miami on Sunday. Luis Muriel, Marco Pasalic, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson scored the goals and Pedro Gallese made four saves in the victory over Lionel Messi and company. Orlando is riding a streak of 12 straight matches in all competitions without a loss (6-0-6), which includes the Lions’ 5-0 road win against the Tampa Bay Rowdies to kick off their 2025 U.S. Open Cup campaign.

Tonight’s visitors are level on points with Orlando City in the Eastern Conference standings, but Nashville has more wins, so it currently occupies fourth place. Nashville had an extra day of rest after playing D.C. United to a scoreless draw at home on Saturday. The Tennessee-based club is also on a hot streak at the moment, entering tonight on a six-game unbeaten run ( 4-0-2). That includes the team’s 1-0 home win over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC in the U.S. Open Cup two weeks ago.

B.J. Callaghan is in his second season as Nashville’s head coach, and the former USMNT interim head coach has his team headed the right direction. He’s got Mukhtar producing again and Sam Surridge has also been productive for Nashville. But the team is also playing well defensively, having not conceded more than one goal in any of the last five games.

Expect a tightly contested game, as is common when these teams meet. The Lions must play defense at the level they have the past two games, while taking their chances against a stingy defense and standout goalkeeper in Joe Willis (although rotation isn’t out of the question).

“There are still things we need to do to get better. We’re not going to think that everything is rosy,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the game. “We know who we are, and we know where we’re going. This team is consciously understanding what we need to improve as well, so that makes me feel very optimistic. Now we have to be preparing for the next game that is around the corner [tonight] against Nashville SC and then Portland Timbers over the weekend.”

The Lions will be without Eduard Atuesta (neck), Nico Rodriguez (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Gustavo Caraballo (lower leg) is questionable.

Match Content

• Our most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast features our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

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

Defensive Midfielders: Cesar Araujo, Joran Gerbet.

Attacking Midfielders: Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, Martin Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forward: Ramiro Enrique.

Bench: Javier Otero, Kyle Smith, Rafael Santos, Colin Guske, Ivan Angulo, Luis Muriel, Duncan McGuire.

Nashville SC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Brian Schwake.

Defenders: Wyatt Meyer, Chris Applewhite, Jeisson Palacios, Andy Najar.

Midfielders: Patrick Yazbek, Bryan Acosta, Matthew Corcoran.

Forwards: Ahmed Qasem, Teal Bunbury, Jonathan Perez.

Bench: Xavier Valdez, Jack Maher, Josh Bauer, Ethan O’Brien, Alex Muyl, Jacob Schaffelberg, Christian Koffi.

Referees

REF: Joshua Encarnacion.
AR1: Rhett Hammi.
AR2: Ben Rigel.
4TH: Alejo Calume.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV/Streaming: Paramount+.

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 game. Go City!