Orlando City (3-2-1, 10 points) at Philadelphia Union (4-2-0, 12 points)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Subaru Park, Chester, PA.
Radio: AM 810 Fox Sports Radio, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' road match at Philly in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Oscar Pareja coached his 200th game for Orlando City last weekend against the LA Galaxy, winning for the 87th time. With game 201 this weekend against Philadelphia, Pareja will match the amount of games he coached at FC Dallas from 2014-18.
- With Peter Vermes’ firing from Sporting Kansas City on Monday, Pareja is now the second-longest tenured head coach in MLS, trailing only Seattle’s Brian Schmetzer.
- Robin Jansson’s next start will be his 200th for Orlando City in all competitions.
- Martín 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.
Stats & Storylines
- Another week, two more goals from Orlando City’s Designated Players. Martín Ojeda struck first, calmly scoring a penalty kick in the 76th minute to equalize after Orlando trailed for more than an hour, before Luis Muriel won it by hammering a free kick off LA Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy’s fingertips and into the net in the 90th minute. Orlando DPs are up to 18 goal contributions on the year, eight more than second place Chicago Fire FC.
- With 4 G/3 A through six games, Ojeda leads all of MLS with seven goal contributions. The Argentine No. 10 ranks seventh in the league in key passes and 14th in expected goals. Ojeda has 7 G/12 A in his last 23 regular season starts, encompassing the period from when he became a permanent fixture in the starting XI last summer through today.
- Muriel now has a goal contribution in five consecutive games, putting him two behind Ojeda’s club record of seven set last summer. Muriel is tied for second in MLS with six goal contributions. Muriel and Ojeda are the only two players in MLS with at least three goals and three assists this season.
- Orlando’s attack leads MLS with 15 goals through six games, two more than any other club. The Lions are fourth in expected goals, third in shots, tied for first in assists, and first in key passes. Going back to 2024, Orlando City has scored at least once in 14 consecutive regular season games, scoring at least twice in 13 of those matches and getting three or more in seven of them.
- Orlando City will attempt to win three consecutive games for the first time in 2025 on Saturday. The Lions have had five streaks of at least three straight wins in MLS regular season play over the last two seasons, including three within the final 14 matches of 2024.
- Things are tightening up defensively for Orlando as well. After allowing 10 goals through the first four games of the year, the Lions have allowed just one apiece in each of the past two matches. City will seek its first clean sheet of the season on Saturday in Philadelphia.
Series History
All-time vs. Philadelphia - 8-9-6, -8 GD (4-6-1, -8 GD away)
MLS only vs. Philadelphia - 7-8-6, -8 GD (4-5-1, -7 GD away)
2015 - D 0-0 (H), L 1-0 (A)
2016 - L 2-1 (A), D 2-2 (H), W 0-2 (A)
2017 - W 2-1 (H), L 6-1 (A)
2018 - W 0-2 (A), L 1-0 (A/USOC), D 2-2 (H)
2019 - L 1-3 (H), D 2-2 (A)
2020 - D 1-1 (N)
2021 - W 2-1 (H), L 3-1 (A)
2022 - W 2-1 (H/USOC), L 0-1 (H), L 5-1 (A)
2023 - W 1-2 (A), D 2-2 (H)
2024 - W 2-3 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2025 - L 2-4 (H)
Meet the opponent: LA Galaxy
- After stringing together strong results against the Union in 2023 and 2024, the Lions were stunned by a 4-2 defeat to Philadelphia in Matchday 1 this February. The match marked the first home opener loss in Orlando City history.
- Philadelphia has continued to play well since upsetting Orlando in the opener, sitting second in the Eastern Conference through six matches. The Union have scored 13 goals this season, second behind Orlando in MLS.
- Striker Tai Baribo, who started the year with a brace against Orlando City on MD1, currently leads the MLS Golden Boot race with six goals despite only playing in five games and not scoring in either of his last two appearances.
- Hungarian attacking midfielder Dániel Gazdag, who has 4 G/3 A in seven games in his career against Orlando City, has 2 G/2 A on the season, including a goal against the Lions in the opener. New central midfielder Jovan Lukic has impressed with two goals and strong play in the middle, while left back Kai Wagner is tied for the MLS lead with four assists.
- On the Orlando side, all three Lions DPs have had success against the Union. Luis Muriel had 2 G/3 A against Philadelphia in two games last season, scoring or assisting all five goals Orlando scored across two victories. Martín Ojeda has 2 G/3 A against Philly as well, while Marco Pašalić had a brace in the home opener, scoring the fastest Orlando City debut goal in club history in the 8th minute of the match.
