Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Nashville SC: Preview, How to Watch, TV & Live Stream Info, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions host Nashville in a critical Eastern Conference playoff position battle.
Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (13-7-9, 48 points) and Nashville SC (15-10-5, 50 points) at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second of two scheduled meetings between the Eastern Conference clubs in the 2025 regular season.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.
History
The Lions are 4-3-4 against Nashville in MLS regular-season matches and 6-5-5 in all competitions. Orlando is 2-2-1 at home in the regular season against Nashville and 3-3-2 in Orlando against tonight’s opponents in all competitions.
These teams met just a few weeks ago in Nashville on Aug. 23, and things did not go well for the Lions as Nashville SC blasted Orlando 5-1. Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar netted braces and Jeisson Palacios added a late goal. Luis Muriel scored a consolation goal to spoil the shutout.
These teams faced each other in U.S. Open Cup play on May 21, with Nashville claiming a 3-2 road win. Marco Pasalic provided the Lions with an early lead before an own goal by Rodrigo Schlegel and an Ahmed Qasem goal put Nashville ahead at the break. Ramiro Enrique equalized in the second half, but a blast from fullback Wyatt Meyer knocked Orlando out of the competition.
The two teams met last season on Aug. 31, 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, 2024, with the Lions cruising to a 3-0 road win. Goals by Cesar Araujo and 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 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 Schlegel equalized deep in stoppage time. After a scoreless 30 minutes of extra time, the Lions won the ensuing penalty shootout, 6-5.
These clubs 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 not in great form, entering tonight without a win in five consecutive competitive matches, including the loss at Nashville in August. Orlando City’s last outing was a disappointing 1-1 draw at D.C. United a week ago with the hosts down to 10 men for more than half an hour. Alex Freeman scored the lone Orlando goal. The winless skid coincides with a run of five straight games in which the Lions have scored one goal or none over the past month since a 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City Aug. 16. Things won’t get any easier against a stingy Nashville side tonight. Orlando will want to improve upon its 7-4-3 home record, and a win would vault the Lions over Nashville in the Eastern Conference standings during a tight playoff race.
Nashville enters on a poor run of form of its own, aside from a 3-1 home U.S. Open Cup semifinal win over Philadelphia on Tuesday. Tonight’s visitors have dropped their last two MLS matches — at Cincinnati and home against Atlanta — and the five-goal outburst against a heavily rotated Orlando side last month is the team’s only MLS win in six games and the only time Nashville has found the net more than once in seven league matches. Nashville SC is just 5-8-2 away from Geodis Park this season.
Expect a tightly contested game, as is common when these teams meet. The Lions must play much better defense than they did in the first two meetings with Nashville, and that generally means keeping Surridge and Mukhtar quiet, as they’ve combined to score 35 of their team’s 50 goals and they’ve combined for 50 goal contributions.
“Nashville has been a challenging team this year,” Orlando City Head Coach said ahead of the match. “I think their level, the players and what is happening has shown a team that has quite a bit of quality, and we recognize that. But it’s the same for us. We are almost in the same position. By winning the game, we can pass them in the standings. It’s an important game. We understand the magnitude of the commitment we have to make over the weekend, and we would like our fans to come and join us for such an important game.”
The Lions will be without Zakaria Taifi (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Cesar Araujo (lower back) Adrian Marin (thigh) are questionable. Nashville will be without Julian Gaines (thigh), Meyer (foot), Jonny Perez (thigh), and Taylor Washington (knee), while Qasem (ankle) and Walker Zimmerman (knee) are questionable.
Match Content
- Our Intelligence Report provides a scouting report on tonight’s hosts from Ben Wright, the executive editor of SixOneFive Soccer.
- The most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast features our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
- Our David Rohe provides his three keys to an Orlando City victory in Nashville.
Official Lineups:
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Alex Freeman.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Joran Gerbet, Kyle Smith, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.
Bench: Javier Otero, Tahir Reid-Brown, Thomas Williams, Dagur Dan Thorhallson, Colin Guske, Favian Loyola, Nico Rodriguez, Tyrese Spicer, Duncan McGuire.
Nashville SC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Joe Willis.
Defenders: Daniel Lovitz, Jack Maher, Jeison Palacios, Andy Najar.
Midfielders: Gaston Brugman, Edvard Tagseth, Patrick Yazbek.
Forwards: Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, Alex Muyl.
Bench: Brian Schwake, Josh Bauer, Tate Schmitt, Bryan Acosta, Matthew Corcoran, Christopher Applewhite, Tyler Boyd, Jacob Shaffelburg, Teal Bunbury.
Referees
Ref: Pierre-Luc Lauziere.
AR1: Cory Richardson.
AR2: Jason White.
4th: Luis Diego Arroyo.
VAR: Ramy Touchan.
AVAR: Fabio Tovar.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7:30 p.m.
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 game. Go City!