ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 5, 2019) - Orlando City SC (9-13-7, 34 points) hosts league-leader Los Angeles FC (19-4-5, 62 points) on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Exploria Stadium, marking the first visit to Orlando for the 2018 MLS expansion side. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
The match will be locally broadcast on My65 and available on YouTube TV while being transmitted on Real Radio 104.1 FM in English and Acción 97.9 FM, 810 AM in Spanish.
“They’re [LAFC] top of the West and top of the Supporters’ Shield for a reason. They’ve got excellent players and they’ve been very consistent,” Head Coach James O’Connor said. “It’ll be a very tough game, but weekly there’s opportunities against every team so understanding what those opportunities are and then understanding how they attack and how they defend. The biggest thing for us is making sure that our mentality is right and that we go and try to play our game and try to make sure that we’re not intimidated in any way.”
The Lions enter Saturday’s match looking to bounce back from a 3-0 loss in San Jose this past Saturday. The Earthquakes found the back of the net in the third, 20th and 33rd minutes respectively to secure all three points on the night.
Nani and Tesho Akindele lead the Lions this season with nine goals apiece, while the Portuguese midfielder leads the squad with eight assists as well.
LAFC comes into this weekend’s matchup following a 2-0 loss at home to Minnesota United last Sunday. Mason Toye scored both goals for the Loons in the 25th and 29th minutes to earn the victory for the visitors.
Carlos Vela leads LAFC and all of MLS with 27 goals this season and sits tied for second in the league with 15 assists. Diego Rossi follows with 14 goals for LAFC this season, while Eduard Atuesta occupies second on the squad in assists with 10.
Following this weekend’s match, the Lions will close out a two-game home stand against the New England Revolution on Saturday, September 14 with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. ET at Exploria Stadium.
