Orlando City
Orlando City vs. Vancouver Whitecaps: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
Several Lions are unavailable due to injury or international duty as Orlando City faces high-flying Vancouver.
Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between Orlando City (14-7-11, 53 points) and the Vancouver Whitecaps (17-6-9, 60 points). This is the only meeting between the two teams from opposite conferences this season. This match was originally scheduled for Aug. 30 but was rescheduled due to Orlando City’s deep run in Leagues Cup.
Here’s what you need to know about the match.
History
The Lions are 1-3-1 in the all-time series against Vancouver, but it’s been quite some time since these teams have met. The last meeting between the Lions and Whitecaps took place before anyone in the public had heard the term COVID-19, back on April 20, 2019. The game at Orlando City Stadium appeared to be headed for a scoreless draw when a Sacha Kljestan shot hit Nani and deflected in for a 1-0 Orlando City victory. It was Orlando’s first win in the series.
The Whitecaps won a 5-2 lopsided affair in Vancouver on June 9, 2018, with the Lions down a man due to Mohamed El-Munir being sent off. Kljestan and Dom Dwyer scored for Orlando while the Caps were led by Kei Kamara’s brace and goals by Alphonso Davies, Yordy Reyna, and Nicolas Mezquida — who scored again against the Lions for Colorado two weeks ago.
The Caps stole a 2-1 win at Orlando City Stadium in 2017, with former Lion Brek Shea sticking in the dagger with the winning goal. Orlando City dominated the match, firing 25 shots, but could only find the net once — through Cyle Larin. Tommy Redding produced a goal but it was an own goal to open the scoring.
Julio Baptista and Cyle Larin brought Orlando from behind to draw 2-2 in the 2016 meeting under interim coach Bobby Murphy. Mezquida and Masato Kudo scored for the Caps. Baptista had a chance to give the Lions all three points but skied a penalty over the bar.
The Whitecaps got the best of Orlando City deep in stoppage time in the first meeting back in 2015. Octavio Rivero’s flicked header off a Pedro Morales free kick beat Donovan Ricketts in the sixth minute of stoppage time, just moments after Vancouver’s Jordan Harvey was booked for time wasting in stoppage time. The goal was a gut punch that gave Vancouver a 1-0 win at the Citrus Bowl.
Overview
Orlando City is coming off a pair of 1-1 draws against Ohio’s two MLS clubs, including a week ago at home against Columbus. Marco Pasalic scored the lone Orlando goal just moments after Andres Herrera opened the scoring. The Lions have struggled to score goals recently, but Orlando City is unbeaten in its last four league games, although there is only one win in there (1-0-3). All of the draws were 1-1 affairs. The Lions have scored more than one goal in a game just once in their last eight competitive matches. City is 8-4-4 at home in league play in 2025 with tonight being the team’s last match at Inter&Co Stadium during the regular season.
Vancouver is 6-0-4 in its last 10 competitive matches, including 1-0-2 in the last three road matches. The Whitecaps blew out the San Jose Earthquakes 4-1 at home on Sunday in their most recent match. Vancouver, which has scored 10 goals across its last three games, has racked up a 7-4-5 road record this season.
Orlando City will have to play without multiple starters tonight, including two from the back line against the potent Whitecaps attack. David Brekalo and Alex Freeman are away on international duty — along with key attacking players Pasalic and Tyrese Spicer. Additionally, Cesar Araujo has missed the last couple of games with a back injury and Cesar Araujo sustained an injury a week ago, affecting the central midfield. The Lions must stay organized and focused throughout tonight’s match. When not in possession, the back line and midfield must work together to keep Vancouver’s potent offense at bay. When the Lions have the ball, they must protect it. Any cheap giveaways will make Orlando vulnerable to a Whitecaps counter.
Vancouver is missing a few players as well, but mostly on the back end, so Orlando City should get some scoring opportunities. The Lions must take advantage of those.
“We are concentrating on the preparation for this match. It’s the last one at home in the regular season, but it’s also a match that is very important for our position in the playoff standings,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “It’s a team we don’t usually play against [Vancouver Whitecaps FC], but a team that has been playing well during the season, too. So, it’s a very attractive game.”
In addition to Brekalo, Freeman, Pasalic, Spicer, Gustavo Caraballo, Colin Guske, and Javier Otero on international duty, the Lions will be without Gerbet (knee), Tahir Reid-Brown (thigh), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Araujo (back) and Zakaria Taifi (thigh) are questionable.
Vancouver will be without Ali Ahmed (international duty), Kenji Cabrera (international duty), Andrés Cubas (international duty), Rayan Elloumi (international duty), Jayden Nelson (international duty), Tristan Blackmon (knee), Sam Adekugbe (Achilles), Sebastian Schonlau (Achilles), Ranko Veselinović (knee), Brian White (hamstring), and Adrían Zendejas (illness), while Joedrick Pupe (hamstring) is questionable.
Match Content
- Our Ben Miller wrote that Orlando City must take advantage of the missing Vancouver players in tonight’s match.
- The most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
- Our David Rohe provides his three keys to an Orlando City victory over Vancouver.
Official Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Adrian Marin, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Kyle Smith, Eduard Atuesta, Nico Rodriguez.
Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.
Bench: Carlos Mercado, Zakaria Taifi, Thomas Williams, Titus Sandy, Jr., Favian Loyola, Shak Mohammed, Duncan McGuire.
Vancouver Whitecaps (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Yohei Takaoka.
Defenders: Tate Johnson, Belal Halbouni, Mathias Laborda, Edier Ocampo.
Defensive Midfielders: Ralph Priso, Sebastian Berhalter.
Attacking Midfielders: Emmanuel Sabbi, Thomas Muller, Jeevan Badwal.
Forward: Daniel Rios.
Bench: Isaac Boehmer, Max Anchor, Nelson Pierre, J.C. Ngando, Liam Mackenzie, Giusseppe Bovalini, Mark O’Neill, Ryan Gauld.
Referees
Ref: Sergii Boiko.
AR1: Matthew Nelson.
AR2: Kevin Klinger.
4th: Elvis Osmanovic.
VAR: Lukasz Szpala.
AVAR: Michael Radchuk.
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 match. Go City!