Orlando City (2-2-1, 7 points) at LA Galaxy (0-3-2, 2 points)
When: Saturday, 10:30 p.m.
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, Calif.
Radio: AM 810 Fox Sports Radio, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' road match at LA in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Oscar Pareja is set to manage his 200th game in charge of Orlando City in all competitions. With a record of 86-58-55, Pareja is by far the winningest coach in the club’s MLS era and has coached more than twice as many MLS games for the club than any of his predecessors.
- With a two-assist performance last weekend against D.C. United, MartÃn Ojeda surpassed Facundo Torres and pulled even with Nani for second in club history with 26 career assists. Ojeda can take second for himself with his next helper. Iván Angulo kept pace with the Orlando No. 10, adding two assists of his own to move into a tie for fourth with Torres at 25.
Stats & Storylines
- We’ve been tracking the performance of Orlando City’s Designated Players in this space for weeks, and the trio of MartÃn Ojeda, Luis Muriel, and Marco PaÅ¡alić followed with their best performance to date in last Saturday’s 4-1 win over D.C. United. The three combined for three goals and three assists in the romp, marking the first occasion in club history in which all three DPs scored in the same match. Ojeda was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday starting XI while Muriel made the bench.
- Ojeda, Muriel, and Pašalić have 16 goal contributions between the three of them through five games, nearly twice as many as any other club in MLS (Chicago Fire FC, 9). The production has been almost perfectly balanced between the three – Ojeda has 3 G/3 A, Muriel has 2 G/3 A, and Pašalić has 4 G/1 A.
- The three have shined individually as well as together:
- Ojeda is tied with Philadelphia’s Tai Baribo and Chicago’s Hugo Cuypers for the most goal contributions in the league through five weeks and is the only player in MLS with at least three goals and three assists so far this season.
- Muriel’s hot start is no fluke – the Colombian ranks third in MLS in non-penalty expected goals and assists per 90 minutes, behind only Lionel Messi and Cuypers. Muriel is fifth in the league in npG+A/90 as well.
- Pašalić is tied for third in the MLS Golden Boot race behind Baribo and Cuypers. The Croatian international has a goal or an assist in four of five games in his short Orlando City career.
- Overall, Orlando leads MLS with 13 goals scored through five games. Their production is supported by the underlying metrics – the Lions are also first in the league in non-penalty expected goals, second in total expected goals, and first in expected assists. Orlando City has scored 55 goals in its last 22 regular season games going back to the halfway point of 2024, averaging 2.5 goals per game in that stretch and posting a 13-6-3 record in those matches, including a 10-1-0 mark when scoring three goals or more.
- Homegrown right back Alex Freeman continues to shine in a starting role, adding a goal and an assist to his tally against the Black and Red. The 20 year-old became the second-youngest player (after Daryl Dike) and youngest non-forward in club history to score a goal and provide an assist in the same match. Freeman joined Ojeda on the MLS Team of the Matchday for his performance.
- On the defensive side, the Lions produced their best performance of the young season as well, with Homegrown goalkeeper Javier Otero making four saves and picking up the win in his first MLS start in relief of Pedro Gallese, who was with Peru on international duty. Orlando was moments away from its first clean sheet of the year before Lukas MacNaughton scored in second half stoppage time.
- On the international front:
- Gallese started both FIFA World Cup qualifying games as Peru picked up a huge 3-1 win over Bolivia on Thursday only to fall 1-0 at Venezuela in a crucial match on Tuesday. Peru is five points behind Venezuela for the final CONMEBOL slot.
- David Brekalo made a late cameo in the final moments of extra time in the second leg to help Slovenia see out a huge 1-0 aggregate win over Slovakia in the UEFA Nations League playoffs over 210 grueling minutes.
- Colin Guske and OCB’s Justin Ellis scored the goals as the United States U18s drew Morocco 2-2 last Saturday. The U18s followed with a 4-3 win over Norway on Tuesday.
Series History
All-time vs. LA Galaxy - 4-3-0, +4 GD (1-2-0, -2 GD Away)
MLS only vs. LA Galaxy - Same
2015 - W 4-0 (H)
2016 - L 4-2 (A)
2017 - W 2-1 (H)
2018 - L 4-3 (A)
2019 - L 0-1 (H)
2022 - W 0-1 (A)
2023 - W 2-0 (H)
Meet the opponent: LA Galaxy
- Orlando has beaten LA twice on the trot since Oscar Pareja took over, including their first and only win at Dignity Health Sports Park on March 19, 2022. That game saw Facundo Torres score the first of his club-record 47 Orlando City goals.
- The Lions’ most recent win over the Galaxy came on April 29, 2023, with Torres finding the back of the net again after Ercan Kara opened the scoring for Orlando late in the first half. Orlando City has not allowed a goal to Los Angeles since Jona dos Santos scored against James O’Connor’s Lions in May 2019.
- The Galaxy finished second from the bottom in the West in 2023, but rebounded with a massive 2024 which saw them improve from 36 to 64 points, finish second in the West, and go on to defeat the New York Red Bulls for their league-record sixth MLS Cup and first since 2016. However, two DP players central to that effort have not featured for the Galaxy in 2025 – midfielder Riqui Puig, who tore his ACL in the Western Conference Final and will miss most of the season, and winger Joseph Paintsil, who has yet to play this season with a quad injury.
- As a result of those injuries and some cap-related player sales, including striker Dejan Joveljic (Sporting Kansas City) and midfielders Mark Delgado (LAFC) and Gastón Brugman (Nashville SC), the defending champs have limped out to an 0-3-2 start in the regular season, back to second from the bottom in the West. The Galaxy rescued a point last weekend in Minnesota, with center back Emiro Garces scoring on a failed clearance from a set play in the 90th minute to earn a 2-2 draw.
- The Galaxy’s top healthy player is reigning MLS Newcomer of the Year Gabriel Pec, who posted an incredible 16 G/14 A debut season for LA last year and followed with 3 G/2 A in five playoff games. Pec has 2 G/1 A in all competitions to start the 2025 season. Additionally, Paintsil (14 G/11 A in MLS last year including playoffs) has been recovering from his injury according to head coach Greg Vanney and could be in line to make his season debut this weekend against Orlando.
