Orlando City (4-2-4, 16 points) at Chicago Fire FC (3-4-3, 12 points)
When: Saturday, 8:30 p.m.
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL.
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (subscription required)
Radio: AM 810 Fox Sports Radio, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' road match at Chicago in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Orlando City is currently on a club-record 436-minute shutout streak, having gone the entire month of April without conceding a goal. The Lions have kept four straight clean sheets for the first time in club history and will look to make it five on Saturday in Chicago.
- With a win or draw on Saturday, the Lions would extend their current unbeaten run to eight, their second-longest streak without a loss in MLS regular season play ever and their longest since the club-record 12-game unbeaten run in 2020.
- Rodrigo Schlegel’s next appearance will be his 150th for Orlando City in all competitions. Schlegel is fourth all-time in appearances for the club behind Robin Jansson (209), Kyle Smith (189), and Pedro Gallese (170).
- MartÃn Ojeda’s next assist, his 27th for Orlando City, will see him pass Nani for second all-time in club history. Iván Angulo is one assist behind Nani and Ojeda.
- At 17 goals in all competitions, Ojeda is now two away from entering the club’s all-time top 10 scorers. Daryl Dike and Benji Michel are tied for ninth at 19 goals apiece, while Ercan Kara is 11th with 18. Duncan McGuire is the only player on the active roster in the top 10, ranking fourth with 26 career goals.
- Ojeda is two appearances away from 100 for Orlando City in all competitions.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City smashed rival Atlanta United 3-0 on Saturday, getting a penalty kick from Luis Muriel late in the first half before blowing the game open with second-half goals from Alex Freeman and Marco Pašalić. Orlando has scored multiple goals in four of its five home games this season.
- Pašalić has continued to tear up MLS since arriving from Rijeka this winter, adding a goal and an assist in the win. The Croatian international has a team-best five goals and two assists on the season. Per MLS Communications, Pašalić became just the fourth player in club history to record seven goal contributions through his first ten matches with Orlando City, joining Nani, Dom Dwyer, and Daryl Dike.
- Overall, Orlando City’s three Designated players (PaÅ¡alić, Muriel, and MartÃn Ojeda) have 21 goal contributions total, with each DP providing exactly seven – in addition to PaÅ¡alić’s 5 G/2 A, Muriel and Ojeda both have 4 G/3 A on the year. The Orlando DPs are three of just 17 players around the league with seven or more goal contributions. Orlando is the only team in the league with three such players.
- The Lions remain just two goals off the league leaders (Vancouver, Portland, and San Jose) in total goals scored and are tied for third for best goal difference at +6.
- Homegrown right back Alex Freeman continues his remarkable age-20 season, scoring his third goal of the year to give the Lions a 2-0 lead early in the second half against Atlanta. Freeman has been on the field for the entirety of Orlando City’s club-record 436-minute shutout streak and has not subbed off once this season.
- Orlando City’s GA Cup-winning U18 side was honored pre-game for their victory at one of youth soccer’s most prestigious tournaments, and team cornerstones Gustavo Caraballo and Colin Guske followed with late first team cameos in Saturday’s win. In more young player news, U22 Initiative winger Nico RodrÃguez also returned to action for the first time since Matchday 1, playing the final 15 minutes and stoppage time.
Series History
All-time vs. Chicago - 8-6-7, -3 GD (3-4-4, -8 GD away)
MLS only vs. Chicago - 8-5-7, 0 GD (3-3-4, -6 GD away)
2015 - W 2-3 (A), L 3-1 (A/USOC), D 1-1 (H), W 0-1 (A)
2016 - D 1-1 (H), D 2-2 (A)
2017 - D 0-0 (H), L 4-0 (A)
2018 - L 1-2 (H), L 4-0 (A)
2019 - D 1-1 (A), L 2-5 (H)
2020 - W 4-1 (H)
2021 - L 3-1 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2022 - D 0-0 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2023 - W 3-1 (H), W 1-3 (A)
2024 - D 1-1 (A), W 4-2 (H)
Meet the opponent: Chicago Fire FC
- The Chicago Fire series, along with Toronto FC, represents the Oscar Pareja Effect about as well as any matchup Orlando City has played in its ten-plus-year history. Before Papi’s arrival, Orlando went 2-5-5 in 12 matches against the Fire, going four years without a win from 2016-19. Since 2020, when Pareja took charge of the club, Orlando is 6-1-2 against the Fire and has not lost to Chicago since July 2021.
- Last season, the sides played to a 1-1 draw at Soldier Field in late May before Orlando exploded out of a five-game winless funk and won 4-2 at Inter&Co Stadium in June. Luis Muriel and Iván Angulo both scored in that match for the Lions, with Facundo Torres providing the other three goals in the 2024 series.
- Chicago was off to a strong start in 2025 under new head coach and former United States Men’s National Team manager Gregg Berhalter through the season’s first month-plus, but things have tailed off in recent weeks. The Fire have gone winless in five and are coming off a 7-2 pummeling at the hands of Nashville SC at GEODIS Park last weekend. Chicago is tied with D.C. United for the most goals conceded in MLS this season at 22 through ten games.
- On the other hand, this Fire side can score. DP striker Hugo Cuypers, who netted in both matches against Orlando City last season, is tied with Philadelphia’s Tai Baribo for the Golden Boot lead with seven goals. Fellow DP Jonathan Bamba, a left winger signed from La Liga this winter, has a goal and five assists, while right winger Philip Zinckernagel has 3 G/4 A. Chicago has scored 18 goals this year, the same as Orlando.
