Orlando City (8-8-7, 30 points) at Nashville SC (6-9-8, 26 points)
When: Wednesday, 8:30 p.m
Where: Geodis Park, Nashville, TN
TV: Fox Sports 1, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: 96.9 the Game FM, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' Wednesday night match at Nashville SC in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Facundo Torres is in line for multiple milestones in the coming weeks:
- With 50 MLS regular season goal contributions (31 G/19 A), Torres ranks second in club history, surpassing Cyle Larin and Mauricio Pereyra (49 each) with his brace over the weekend. Torres is one away from catching Nani (51) for the club record.
- Torres is currently tied for fourth in club history with 22 assists. The Uruguayan is two assists from catching Chris Mueller in third and four away from Nani in second.
- As far as goals, Torres is now in sight of Larin, who has been the club’s all-time leading goalscorer since his rookie year in 2015. Facu needs six more goals to tie Larin’s record 44-goal haul from 2015-17.
- Nicolás Lodeiro is one assist away from 10 for the MLS regular season and three away from matching Mauricio Pereyra’s club record for a single MLS campaign (12, 2023). It would be Lodeiro’s seventh MLS regular season with double-digit assists.
- Lodeiro has 10 assists in all competitions this year, putting him two shy of the all competitions record, which is also 12, held jointly by Pereyra in 2023 and Torres in 2022.
- Oscar Pareja’s next win will be his 75th in all competitions for Orlando City. Pareja is going for four consecutive victories for the third time in his Lions career – Orlando won five straight from August 13-September 7, 2022 and matched the club record with six wins in a row from September 30-November 7, 2023.
Stats & Storylines
- With three more goals on Saturday night in New England, Orlando City continued its best-ever offensive stretch, setting a new club record with 18 goals in its past six matches. The Lions need two goals against Nashville to set a new seven-game record. City is 4-1-1 in the six games with multiple goals scored in all six.
- Orlando has scored more goals in the past six matches (18) than it had in its first 17 regular season games in 2024 (17).
- Facundo Torres has been blisteringly hot over this stretch, scoring six goals and adding four assists in the six matches. Torres is up to 11 goals and six assists in all competitions this season.
- Martín Ojeda has started each of the past four games and has a goal contribution in all four, scoring twice and supplying two assists.
- Ramiro Enrique has found the back of the net in two consecutive games, coming off the bench to score Orlando’s fifth against D.C. United before netting the winner against New England in his first start since March 9. Both of Enrique’s recent goals came on corner kicks after a teammate had headed him the ball.
- Orlando City has come from behind to win each of its past two road games. On the season, the Lions are 4-7-3 when conceding first and have recovered 15 points from losing positions, second in MLS behind Inter Miami (24). The win over New England was City’s first while trailing at halftime since its famous 4-3 comeback win over Columbus on September 16, 2023.
- Remarkably, Orlando had not won while trailing at halftime on the road since April 29, 2018 in Colorado.
Series History
All-time vs. Nashville - 4-3-5, 0 GD (2-1-3, 0 GD away)
MLS only vs. Nashville - 2-2-4, 0 GD (1-0-3, +1 GD away)
2020 - W 3-1 (H), D 1-1 (A), L 2-3 (H)
2021 - D 1-1 (A), D 2-2 (A), D 1-1 (H), L 3-1 (A/MLS Cup Playoffs)
2022 - D 1-1 (6-5) (H/USOC)
2023 - L 0-2 (H), W 0-1 (A), W 1-0 (H/MLS Cup Playoffs), W 0-1 (A/MLS Cup Playoffs)
Meet the opponent: Nashville SC
- After going eight straight matches without a win against Nashville over a three-year stretch, Orlando established itself as the leader of this burgeoning southeastern rivalry last season, winning 1-0 in Nashville on October 4 and then sweeping the Coyotes out of the MLS Cup Playoffs with a pair of 1-0 wins in last fall’s Best-of-3 First Round series.
- Orlando has been especially good in Nashville, losing just once in six trips to Tennessee and never in the regular season. Duncan McGuire and Iván Angulo had the goals in the two 1-0 wins at GEODIS Park last year, with Angulo’s tally coming in the playoff game.
- The Lions will face Nashville for the first time without inaugural head coach Gary Smith, who was fired on May 16 after a 3-4-5 start to the 2024 regular season. Nashville briefly bounced under interim head coach Rumba Munthali, going 3-1-3 in his first seven games in charge, but the Coyotes have lost four straight since June 29, scoring just three times while conceding 10 goals in that span.
- 2022 MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar has experienced an inconsistent 2024, posting a respectable 5 G/7 A in 21 regular season appearances but failing to reach the level he displayed in prior seasons. After posting a ridiculous 40 G/32 A in 67 matches from the start of 2022 through the 2023 Leagues Cup, Mukhtar has just 8 G/12 A in his last 36 appearances in all competitions. The German has done well against Orlando City in his career with 7 G/5 A in 11 matches, though he has been held without a goal or an assist in his last three games against the Lions, all 1-0 losses.
- Nashville’s current leading goalscorer is Sam Surridge, who has eight goals in 19 MLS appearances this year.
- The Coyotes will be without star center-back Walker Zimmerman, who was selected as one of three overage players to join the United States Olympic team in France. Zimmerman will team with Orlando City striker Duncan McGuire in Paris.
