Orlando City SC (7-14-1, 22 points) returns home to face the New England Revolution (7-7-7, 28 points) on Saturday, Aug. 4. Kickoff is set 7:30 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.
Tickets are still available at OrlandoCitySC.com/tickets. The match will be locally televised on TV27 and YouTube TV, and broadcast on FM 96.9 The Game in English and La Nueva 990 AM in Spanish.
“A very big game obviously when you look at the standings,” Lions head coach James O’Connor said. “[New England has] multiple players that have a lot of pace so again the defensive transition piece becomes really important. It’s going to be a game where I think when we’re attacking, because of the pace they have, we need to be very mindful of the transition piece.”
Orlando City fell 4-3 to the LA Galaxy on Sunday. Cristian Higuita and Dom Dwyer scored for the Lions, and Sacha Kljestan forced an own-goal. Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. made a career-high six saves on the night.
Dwyer leads the Lions with nine goals this season, followed by Kljestan with five. Kljestan and Yoshimar Yotún lead the team with six MLS assists, followed by rookie Chris Mueller with five.
The Revolution enter the match on a three-game losing streak, most recently falling 2-0 to the New York Red Bulls on July 21.
Teal Bunbury leads New England with 10 goals and Diego Fagundez leads the team with seven assists.
This will be the first meeting since Sept. 27, 2017, when City defeated the Revolution 6-1. Dwyer and Yotún each recorded a goal and two assists. It was Yotún’s first goal as a Lion and Dwyer’s first at Orlando City Stadium. The match also marked the largest margin for victory in Club history and the only time City has scored six goals in a single game during league play.
On Wednesday, City’s Yotún and New England’s Wilfried Zahibo participated in the 2018 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target in Atlanta. Yotún came on in the 63rd minute and converted his penalty kick in the shootout. Midfielder Cam Lindley was also in Atlanta representing the Lions in the 2018 MLS Homegrown Game presented by Energizer®. Lindley was one of two Homegrowns that played all 90 minutes.
