Orlando City (9-6-7, 34 points) at Atlanta United (9-5-8, 35 points)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
TV: Fox Sports 1, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (free match)
Radio: 96.9 The Game (English), Acción 97.9 FM (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for Orlando City at Atlanta United in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestone watch
-- Mauricio Pereyra’s next match will see him become the fifth player in club history to reach 120 appearances in all competitions. Kyle Smith’s next appearance will be his 130th, the second time a player has reached that milestone for Orlando (Robin Jansson).
-- Facundo Torres’ next goal will tie Tesho Akindele for sixth on the all-time scoring list, with Chris Mueller two goals ahead in fifth.
-- Pedro Gallese’s next clean sheet will be his 30th in all competitions for Orlando City. Gallese is nine saves away from 300 in his Lions career.
Stats and storylines
-- Orlando City will look to bounce back in a derby game this weekend after taking a 4-0 loss to Real Salt Lake last Saturday night. The Lions hadn’t lost a match by four goals since September 10, 2022, a 5-1 defeat to Philadelphia with a heavily rotated team just three days after lifting the U.S. Open Cup. It was just the third four-goal defeat in Oscar Pareja’s 131 games as Orlando City head coach.
-- Orlando was at a rest disadvantage in the RSL game, as the Claret and Cobalt did not have to play a mid-week game while the Lions tangled with Toronto FC. The reverse will play out this week, as City has a full week to prepare while Atlanta played Wednesday night in New England, falling 2-1 to the Revs.
-- The Lions’ home form has improved dramatically over the past few months, but their road form has not quite maintained its early season highs. After a 4-1-2 start away from Exploria Stadium, the Lions are winless in three on the road with a -6 goal differential. They’ll look to turn that around on Saturday.
SERIES HISTORY
All-time vs. Atlanta United - 3-9-7, -9 GD (1-3-5, -6 GD away)
MLS only vs. Atlanta United - 3-8-7, -7 GD (1-3-5, -6 GD away)
- 2017 - L 0-1 (H), D 1-1 (A), D 3-3 (A)
- 2018 - L 1-2 (H), L 4-0 (A), L 1-2 (H)
- 2019 - L 1-0 (A), L 0-2 (H/USOC), L 0-1 (H)
- 2020 - W 1-3 (A), D 1-1 (H), D 0-0 (A), W 4-1 (H)
- 2021 - D 0-0 (H), W 3-2 (H), L 3-0 (A)
- 2022 - D 1-1 (A), L 0-1 (H)
- 2023 - D 1-1 (H)
Meet the opponent: Atlanta United
-- Saturday marks the second game of 2023 between the southeastern rivals after Atlanta stole a point late at Exploria Stadium on May 27. Orlando dominated the proceedings in that game only to fall victim to a Tyler Wolff set piece goal in the 86th minute.
-- Orlando City is 3-2-5 against Atlanta United under Oscar Pareja after going 0-7-2 in its first three seasons facing the Five Stripes.
-- Saturday could feature the top two players in goals per 90 minutes in MLS: Atlanta’s Giorgos Giakoumakis (0.94) and Orlando’s Duncan McGuire (0.84). Giakoumakis is week-to-week with a hamstring injury and missed out on Atlanta’s loss to New England this week.
-- Atlanta’s Thiago Almada is tied for the league lead with 10 assists on the season and is tied with four other players for second in MLS in goal contributions with 18 (Hany Mukhtar, NSH, 21). He’ll be taking on an Orlando team that’s had a staggering 12 players record double-digit assists (the most of any team in MLS), led by Almada’s fellow Argentine Martín Ojeda with eight.
