Orlando City vs. Sporting Kansas City: Three Keys to Victory

Orlando City hosts Sporting Kansas City Saturday at Inter&Co Stadium, and the Lions will try to stay perfect in August after back-to-back-to-back, multi-goal wins in Leagues Cup and MLS play. Momentum can be an awesome thing, and Orlando City has it right now. What must Orlando City do to earn all three points at home on Saturday night?

Pour it On

The Lions have scored 12 goals in the last three matches across all competitions. The three Designated Players have scored 11 of those goals. Luis Muriel has five goals, Martin Ojeda has four, and Marco Pasalic has the other two among the DPs. Ivan Angulo has the only non-DP goal in that stretch. The Orlando City offense is absolutely humming right now, so I just need the Lions to keep doing what they are doing.

Sporting KC has given up 47 goals so far this season and has a -11 goal differential. That is good news for a team like Orlando City that is scoring goals in bunches. Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp has played every minute of the season and has 86 saves on 133 shots. For perspective, Pedro Gallese has 70 saves, but he’s only faced 102 shots. There will be opportunities against Kansas City’s defense. The Lions just need to maximize those chances.

Deal with Cesar’s Absence

The Orlando City offense has made things easy on the defense. Although the defense has given up one goal in each of the last three matches across all competitions, the team has won each time. The job will be a little more difficult this go-around with Cesar Araujo suspended for yellow card accumulation. How Orlando City’s defense deals with his absence is an important factor in this match. Joran Gerbet has returned to training, but may still not be ready to go on Saturday — Oscar Pareja likes to ease players returning from injury back into the rotation. Kyle Smith will likely start in place of Araujo. He, Eduard Atuesta, Pedro Gallese, and the Orlando back line must prioritize stopping Kansas City forward Dejan Joveljic. The striker has 13 of his team’s 36 goals this season. Shutting down Joveljic would go a long way to stifling the SKC offense.

Avoid a Letdown

As I mentioned above, Orlando City is undefeated in August. The team has scored a ton of goals August. There’s plenty of reason to expect the team to remain in good form. Of course, the Lions are coming off a big rivalry match against Inter Miami. It can be difficult to get up for the match following a Tropic Thunder victory. After Orlando’s win at Inter Miami earlier this season, the Lions lost at home in U.S. Open Cup play with a full strength lineup against a largely rotated Nashville side. The coaches and players need to maintain the killer mindset that has garnered the recent results.

One key to the success has been the ability to attack when in possession, or on the counter. Additionally, the players have not let up after securing the lead. That happened too many times early in the season, and it was costly. I want this club to continue to go for a multiple-goal outcome, especially at home.

That is what I will be looking for Saturday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!