1.58 - Maestro things
Mauricio Pereyra tied Nani’s Club record with his 25th and 26th Orlando City assists across all competitions last Saturday, reaching the mark in 21 fewer appearances than the former captain. Pereyra has 1.58 expected assists for the season, ranking him eighth in all of MLS for the year. Alexandre Pato also ranks in the top 30 in the league with 1.05.
540 - Moutinho’s moment
João Moutinho has been fit and in form to start 2022. The former No. 1 pick has played all 540 minutes this season, the only player on the roster to appear in every minute so far this year. Moutinho capped off his hot start to the year by scoring his first MLS regular-season goal for Orlando City on Saturday night against LAFC, the team that took him at the top of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.
1 - Putting out fires
Orlando City faces the Chicago Fire this weekend, a rematch from a blustery 0-0 draw between the two sides at Soldier Field last month. The Fire have conceded just one goal through their first five matches, the fourth team in MLS history to accomplish that feat. The others were the 2010 LA Galaxy, 2012 Sporting Kansas City and the 2020 Columbus Crew. All three of those teams won a trophy – the 2010 Galaxy won the Supporters’ Shield, 2012 SKC won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and the 2020 Crew won MLS Cup.
3 - Kacper haunts these halls
Fire striker Kacper Przybyłko has six goals for his career against Orlando City, including three at Exploria Stadium. The former Philadelphia Union forward is the only visiting player in the entire league with three goals at Exploria since he entered the league in 2019.
