Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions go hunting their third straight road victory.
Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (9-5-6, 33 points) and Charlotte FC (8-11-1, 25 points) at Bank of America Stadium (7:15 p.m., FS1/FOX Deportes/MLS Season Pass on Apple TV) in Charlotte. This is the second of two games on the slate between the Eastern Conference rivals in 2025.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions are 4-1-2 in the regular-season series and 6-3-2 in all competitions against Charlotte. Orlando City is 1-0-2 on the road in the regular season and 1-2-2 away across all competitions against the North Carolina-based side. These games are usually close, with all previous non-draws decided by one or two goals.
The teams last met on May 14 in Orlando, with Luis Muriel and Martin Ojeda giving the Lions a 2-0 lead inside the game’s first 25 minutes. Wilfried Zaha pulled the visitors within a goal before the break, making for a tight second half, but Ramiro Enrique’s late goal put the game to bed in Orlando City’s 3-1 home win.
Prior to 2025, the teams met in the first round of the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs. Orlando City claimed two of the three matches, winning the first outright, dropping the second on penalties after a late goal was called offside in the buildup, and advancing after a penalty shootout win following the third match of the best-of-three series.
On Nov. 9, 2024, Facundo Torres’ penalty late in stoppage time canceled out a Karol Swiderski goal and sent the deciding third match to penalties with a 1-1 score. Pedro Gallese made two saves and Orlando City won the shootout 4-1, advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The teams played eight days before that in Charlotte, without either side scoring in normal time, as Torres’ strike was disallowed for offside on Nico Lodeiro on Muriel’s through ball. Charlotte won the ensuing penalty shootout 3-1 after the scoreless draw to tie the series at 1-1, because shootout wins are just as important as actual wins in this somewhat baffling format. That followed Orlando City’s 2-0 home win the previous Sunday. Torres and Ojeda scored the goals on either side of halftime to lead the Lions to the Game 1 win. It was the first time Orlando scored more than one goal in an MLS playoff game.
The teams also met a month and a half prior to their first playoff meeting on Sept. 18 in Orlando. The Lions got second-half goals from Torres and Duncan McGuire to win 2-0, claiming the first multiple-goal win in the series. The teams also met on June 19, 2024, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and played to a 2-2 draw. The hosts struck first with an early Kerwin Vargas goal and the Lions pulled one back through McGuire in the second half. But despite Charlotte going down a man on Scott Arfield’s red card, Brandt Bronico restored the hosts’ lead shortly after McGuire’s strike. Torres struck back moments later but the Lions could not find a winner on the road.
The previous match was also a draw at Bank of America Stadium, finishing 1-1 on Aug. 30, 2023. Enzo Copetti’s late penalty appeared to wrap things up for the hosts on a rainy night in Charlotte, but Ojeda’s seeing-eye set piece equalized just before stoppage time as the teams split the points.
Charlotte claimed a 1-0 “home” victory in U.S. Open Cup play on May 9 of that year. That game took place at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Matthews, NC, rather than at the club’s regular stadium. The first matchup of the 2023 season didn’t go any better for Orlando City, finishing as a 2-1 Charlotte win at Exploria Stadium on March 18. Copetti and Vargas put Charlotte up 2-0 by halftime. Ojeda pulled one back, but the Lions were wasteful in front of goal and couldn’t pull level.
In 2022, the teams met at Bank of America Stadium on Aug. 21. After a scoreless first half, Ercan Kara put the Lions ahead on the road, only to see McKinze Gaines equalize just four minutes later. Tesho Akindele’s late goal lifted Orlando to a 2-1 victory.
Orlando City won the first-ever meeting between the sides on April 30, 2022, at Exploria Stadium. Ruan scored the opening goal and set up Torres on the counter for the second as the Lions took a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Christian Fuchs scored from the spot after Rodrigo Schlegel was called for a foul in the box in the second half, but that was as close as Charlotte got in what was ultimately a 2-1 Orlando victory.
Overview
Orlando City is coming off a disappointing 2-1 home loss to FC Cincinnati a week ago, giving up a terrible first goal on a long-range set piece and eventually falling behind 2-0 on Evander’s second goal before trying to scrap back into it on a Marco Pasalic strike. The Lions got no closer and saw their two-game winning streak snapped. Orlando, however, will look to make it three consecutive road wins and a season sweep of Charlotte tonight in North Carolina. Orlando City is 4-2-4 on the road this season, and if not for a senseless red card late in Atlanta, could still be unbeaten since the road opener at New York City FC. The Lions will again be without fullback Alex Freeman, who is away with the USMNT for the Concacaf Gold Cup final.
Charlotte has lost three straight games — all on the road and all by a single goal — but is a sparkling 6-2-0 at home in 2025. In an odd coincidence, tonight’s hosts also entered the first meeting on the heels of three consecutive losses in MLS play. Expect Charlotte to be hard to break down and to look to create chances for Zaha, Liel Abada, and Pep Biel. Like Orlando, Charlotte is missing key starters away with the U.S. Men’s National Team, but it is without multiple critical pieces, including striker Patrick Agyemang — who is reportedly about to transfer to Derby County in England — and defender Tim Ream. Additionally, Zaha is suspended for yellow card accumulation.
These teams typically play tight, low-scoring matches against each other and any mistake can be the difference in the game. Goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina is a difference maker for Charlotte, and he always presents a challenge for the Lions. At the same time, Charlotte has picked up some gifted offensive players in recent years that have fit in well with Dean Smith’s system. Biel leads the Charlotte attack with a team co-leading six goals (with Agyemang) and a club-best eight assists in 19 games (all starts). Although suspended for this match, Zaha has five goals and five assists on the season, while Abada has logged five goals and two assists.
Orlando City will need to be patient but also try to build a volume of shots against a stout defense led by Kahlina, who posted 119 saves last season and tied for the league lead in minutes played (3,060). Charlotte also has a strong back line that includes Adilson Malanda. The key to beating Charlotte is usually to get on the scoreboard and force Charlotte into opening up and taking risks, but that’s easier said than done.
“It’s an important one, of course against Charlotte FC,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “It’s a rival from the conference. It’s already the second part of the season, and we want to navigate it in a good way in order to get our spot in the playoffs and fight for first place in the Eastern Conference. Those objectives are very tangible. We’re preparing our team to overcome the last game, where we played well but couldn’t get a result. But now the opportunity to go to Charlotte is there, and we are prepared.”
The Lions will be without Freeman (international duty), McGuire (shoulder), Joran Gerbet (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles) and Yutaro Tsukada (knee). Charlotte will be without Agyemang (international duty), Ream (international duty), and Zaha (suspension).
Match Content
- Our most recent epsiode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for today’s match, as well as a preview of the game.
- 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, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.
Midfielders: Martin Ojeda, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Luis Muriel, Ramiro Enrique.
Bench: Javier Otero, Rafael Santos, Zakaria Taifi, Kyle Smith, Thomas Williams, Colin Guske, Ivan Angulo, Nico Rodriguez, Shak Mohammed.
Charlotte FC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Kristijan Kahlina.
Defenders: Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Bill Tuiloma, Adilson Malanda, Nicholas Scardina.
Midfielders: Brandt Bronico, Ashley Westwood, Djibril Diani.
Forwards: Kerwin Vargas, Idan Toklomati, Pep Biel.
Bench: David Bingham, Jahlane Forbes, Andrew Privett, Eryk Williamson, Brandon Cambridge, Jack Neeley, Nikola Petkovic, Tyger Smalls, Liel Abada.
Referees
Ref: Rosendo Mendoza.
AR1: Matthew Nelson.
AR2: Justin Howard.
4th: Sergii Demianchuk.
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez.
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:15 p.m.
Venue: Bank of America Stadium — Charlotte, NC.
TV/Live Stream: FS1, FOX Deportes, 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!