Orlando City (5-4-2, 17 pts.) will look to follow up its mid-week Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup triumph with a win north of the border, as the Lions head to BMO Field to face Toronto FC (3-6-2, 11 pts.). The match is set to kick off at 3 p.m. ET and will be televised locally on FOX35 PLUS and LionNation TV, with pre-game coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. Local radio coverage will be available from 2:30 p.m. ET on FM 96.9 the Game in English and Acción 97.9 FM in Spanish.
Here’s everything you need to know about Toronto:
Key Transactions and Player News
Key Additions - Head Coach Bob Bradley, CF Jesús Jiménez (Górnik Zabrze), CB Carlos Salcedo (Tigres UANL), CB Shane O’Neill (Seattle Sounders), LB Luca Petrasso (Toronto FC II), CB Lukas MacNaghton (Pacific FC), F/M DeAndre Kerr (Syracuse University), RB Kosi Thompson (Toronto FC II), F Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli, arriving July 7)
Key Departures - CF Jozy Altidore (New England Revolution), LW Yeferson Salcedo (Tigres UANL), CM Mark Delgado (LA Galaxy), RB Richie Laryea (Nottingham Forest), LB Kemar Lawrence (Minnesota United), LB Justin Morrow (retirement), CF Dom Dwyer (Atlanta United), CB Omar Gonzalez (New England Revolution)
News - Toronto performed a wholesale overhaul of their roster this offseason, changing two Designated Players and saying goodbye to several other key players, including former Lion Laryea and longtime Greg Vanney mainstay Delgado. Longtime USMNT head coach Bob Bradley, most recently at LAFC, took over the rebuilding project after the conclusion of last season. He reunites with his son Michael for the first time since Bob left the national team in 2011.
Take a look at Toronto’s full roster here.
Team Form
Toronto got off to a pretty good start, earning results in five of its first seven, but has fallen on hard times of late. The Reds have lost four in a row, including a controversial 1-0 defeat at Vancouver last weekend in which what looked to be a clean goal for Jayden Nelson was ruled out for a foul on the Whitecaps goalkeeper. Toronto had two separate six-game losing streaks last season.
Head-to-Head
Toronto had been a bogeyman for much of Orlando City’s existence, but things turned around sharply last season under Oscar Pareja. After not facing each other in the shortened 2020 campaign, Orlando took seven points from three games against Toronto in 2021. Silvester van der Water and Júnior Urso both scored game-winners against the Reds last year.
Rasmussen University Fact
Toronto’s, and the league’s, biggest offseason acquisition has yet to arrive in Canada. That would be Lorenzo Insigne, the Italian national team mainstay and Napoli attacker who helped Italy to the EURO 2020 title last summer. Insigne is reportedly set to make the highest salary of any player in MLS history upon his arrival in July.
