ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 4, 2020) - Orlando City SC (4-2-3, 15 points) returns to The City Beautiful to face Atlanta United FC (3-4-1, 10 points) on Saturday, Sept. 5 at Exploria Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET.
The match will be nationally televised on FOX and FOX Deportes while being transmitted on 96.9 The Game in English and Acción 97.9FM, 810AM in Spanish. The game will be open to a limited number of fans, with tickets available here.
“Atlanta has very good players, especially the ones who are part of their attack. It is a team who offensively is very aggressive and they have been in the last few years with a model of the game that is very clear,” Head Coach Oscar Pareja said. “We controlled it very well in Atlanta. It was a great game defensively for us and I would like to keep doing that. It was amazing and we were very happy, but this is a different story that needs to be written. We will be ready.”
The Lions return to Orlando after acquiring four points from a two-game road trip, three of which came in a 3-1 win at Atlanta this past Saturday. Their most recent fixture resulted in a 1-1 draw at Nashville SC on Wednesday, with Benji Michel scoring the lone goal for the Lions in that match. The Homegrown ripped a shot from outside the area in the 17th minute for his first finish of the regular-season, but Nashville would go on to score in the 47th to level the two sides for good off the foot of Randall Leal.
Chris Mueller leads the Lions with six goals this season, sitting at second in MLS behind only LAFC’s Diego Rossi. Mueller also sits tied for the team-lead in assists with Mauricio Pereyra, each with three to their credit.
Atlanta enters Saturday’s match after battling to a scoreless draw on Wednesday against 2020 expansion side Inter Miami CF at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The shutout served as the second for The Five Stripes of the season.
Pity Martínez, Ezequiel Barco and Emerson Hyndman sit tied for a team-high two goals apiece for Atlanta this season. Barco and Martínez also sit tied for the team lead in assists with two each.
Following Saturday’s match, the Lions will close out their Phase 1 Continuation of Play schedule on Saturday, Sept. 12, hosting Inter Miami CF for the first time at Exploria Stadium. A limited number of tickets for that contest are available here.
