Orlando City (13-7-8, 47 points) at D.C. United (5-15-9, 24 points)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Audi Field, Washington, D.C.
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 in D.C. in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Martín Ojeda will look to extend his MLS regular season goal contribution streak to 13 consecutive matches, a run matched only once in the league’s history (by Josef Martínez for Atlanta United in 2019).
- Ojeda’s next goal contribution, his 73rd in all competitions for Orlando City, will hand him sole possession of the club’s all-time record. Ojeda tied Facundo Torres with his 72nd career goal contribution against the LA Galaxy in the Leagues Cup third place match.
- Ojeda’s next goal will see him surpass Nani for third all-time in Orlando City history at 32. Ojeda is already second in club history in assists, six away from matching Mauricio Pereyra’s club record of 47.
- Ojeda’s next goal, his 19th of 2025, will also pass Cyle Larin’s 2015 season for the second-highest scoring season in club history. Ojeda is two goals away from tying Torres’ club record 20-goal haul from 2024.
- Rodrigo Schlegel’s next appearance will be his 175th in all competitions for Orlando City. If he starts the game, it would be his 150th career start.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City will look to shake off a disappointing conclusion to its Leagues Cup campaign when it returns to league play this Saturday against D.C. United. The Lions enter the final stretch of the 2025 MLS regular season fifth in the East on 47 points with a game in hand on each of the four teams ahead of them, though they are sixth on points per game with Miami lurking on three fewer games played.
- The Lions remain among the most potent attacks in MLS, tied for the league lead in goals scored with Miami and San Diego. Martín Ojeda enters the weekend third in MLS in goal contributions with 28 (Anders Dreyer, San Diego, 32; Lionel Messi, Miami, 29) and second in assists (Dreyer, 18).
- Orlando is on a three-game losing streak for the first time since March 2024, having rotated for a tough league game in Nashville, dropping the Leagues Cup semifinals in Fort Lauderdale amidst a major refereeing controversy, and falling short in the third place game to the Galaxy. The international break will have come as a welcome relief for Orlando’s players, who traveled to the West Coast twice in a two-week span around the games in Tennessee and South Florida.
- There was no rest for several Lions on international duty last week – only three MLS teams had more players called to their national teams than Orlando for the September window. Alex Freeman returned to the United States after a strong run at the CONCACAF Gold Cup over the summer, while Marco Pašalić remains the only MLS player ever called to Croatia. Regulars Pedro Gallese (Peru) and David Brekalo (Slovenia) were back for their countries’ World Cup qualifying contests, while Tyrese Spicer earned a call to Trinidad & Tobago in his first FIFA window as a Lion. Tahir Reid-Brown (U.S. U-20s), Colin Guske (U.S. U-19s), and Gustavo Caraballo (Venezuela U-17s) all earned youth national team call-ups as well.
Series History
All-time vs. D.C. United - 9-9-3, +4 GD (3-5-2, -4 GD away)
MLS only vs. D.C. United - 9-9-2, +4 GD (3-5-1, -4 GD away)
2015 - L 0-1 (H), L 2-1 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2016 - L 4-1 (A), W 4-2 (H)
2017 - W 2-0 (H), W 1-2 (A)
2018 - D 1-1 (H), D 1-1 (2-4) (A/USOC), L 3-2 (A)
2019 - L 1-2 (H), L 1-0 (A)
2021 - W 0-1 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2022 - L 3-5 (H), L 2-1 (A)
2023 - D 1-1 (A), L 1-3 (H)
2024 - W 2-3 (A), W 5-0 (H)
2025 - W 4-1 (H)
Meet the opponent: D.C. United
- Orlando City crushed D.C. United in their first meeting back in March, winning 4-1 behind goals from Luis Muriel, Martín Ojeda, Alex Freeman, and Marco Pašalić, whose stunning strike to finish off a full-field counterattack won MLS Goal of the Matchday. The Lions have won three straight over the Black-and-Red going back to last season, scoring 12 times across the three matches.
- With Muriel suspended for this match due to his red card on August 23 against Nashville, it could be another chance for Duncan McGuire to torment D.C. McGuire has 3g/1a in just 237 minutes against the Black-and-Red, scoring his first-ever professional goal vs. D.C. in 2023 and a second half stoppage time winner in Orlando’s trip to Audi Field last season.
- It’s been another tough season for D.C. United, who will miss the MLS Cup Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. If Chicago secures a playoff spot, D.C. will have the longest active playoff drought in MLS. The Black-and-Red are not to be looked past, though – they took three points off New York City FC at Yankee Stadium their last time out and are unbeaten in three, including a draw against Inter Miami three weeks ago.
- D.C. striker Christian Benteke has looked mortal in 2025 after winning the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi a season ago, battling through nagging injuries to post just 8g/2a through 1477 minutes this campaign. Benteke still leads MLS by a mile in aerial duels, racking up 25 more than his closest competition despite substantially fewer minutes played.
- Attacking midfielder Gabriel Pirani has enjoyed a nice season for D.C., scoring 6g/4a with almost all of that production coming from the end of May onwards. Pirani had both goals in D.C.’s upset of NYCFC last week.
