Orlando City (4-6-4, 16 points) at Chicago Fire FC (2-8-5, 11 points)
When: Wednesday, 8:30 p.m
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
Radio: 96.9 the Game FM, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' midweek road matchup with the Chicago Fire FC in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Robin Jansson’s next appearance will be his 175th for Orlando City in all competitions. Jansson holds the all-time club records for appearances and minutes played.
- Rodrigo Schlegel is two appearances away from 100 in Major League Soccer.
- Pedro Gallese’s next clean sheet will be his 40th for Orlando City.
- Facu Torres’ next goal (his 32nd) will put him second all-time in club history, passing Nani. Cyle Larin has the club record with 44 career goals.
- Duncan McGuire’s next goal will see him tie Chris Mueller for sixth on the Lions’ all-time scoring charts.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City fell 2-0 to the Crew over the weekend due to a bizarre VAR decision that saw a penalty for Orlando turned into a penalty for Columbus. Regardless of the circumstances, the match marked the third straight home game in which the Lions failed to score. Orlando currently sports the third worst home record in MLS, ahead of only New England and Philadelphia.
- On the flipside, the Lions are only two points back of a playoff spot due to their strong away record. At 3-2-1, City has the best road mark of any team in either conference currently below the line and has the sixth-best away record among all teams. Orlando has won both of its road matches this month, 3-2 in Philadelphia and 1-0 in San Jose.
- Orlando City is 25-22-20 all-time in away regular season matches under Oscar Pareja, including 12-6-5 since the start of 2023. Only FC Cincinnati (13) has more away wins than the Lions since the beginning of last season.
- A major event has happened to secure a result for Orlando City in the 89’ or later in each of the Lions’ last four road games. Duncan McGuire won it late in D.C. on April 13, Iván Angulo nabbed a stoppage time equalizer in Montréal the following week, Pedro Gallese became the first keeper to save a Dániel Gazdag regular season penalty to hold a 3-2 win in Philly on May 11, and Jack Lynn bagged all three points for the Lions in San Jose on May 18.
Series History
All-time vs. Chicago - 7-6-6, -5 GD (3-4-3, -8 GD away)
MLS only vs. Chicago - 7-5-6, -3 GD (3-3-3, -6 GD away)
2015 - W 2-3 (A), L 3-1 (A/USOC), D 1-1 (H), W 0-1 (A)
2016 - D 1-1 (H), D 2-2 (A)
2017 - D 0-0 (H), L 4-0 (A)
2018 - L 1-2 (H), L 4-0 (A)
2019 - D 1-1 (A), L 2-5 (H)
2020 - W 4-1 (H)
2021 - L 3-1 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2022 - D 0-0 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2023 - W 3-1 (H), W 1-3 (A)
Meet the opponent: Chicago Fire FC
- Orlando City has owned Chicago since Oscar Pareja came to town. The Lions enter Wednesday’s match on a three-game winning streak against Chicago and sport a 5-1-1 record in seven contests with the Fire under Pareja. Prior to the Colombian’s arrival, Orlando was 2-5-5 in all competitions against Chicago.
- The Lions’ win at Soldier Field last season in their return from the Leagues Cup was their first in the Windy City since 2015, when Orlando won twice in Chicago. The Fire went ahead briefly through Mauricio Pineda shortly after halftime, but Wilder Cartagena and Iván Angulo quickly fired Orlando into the lead and Facu Torres finished things off with a penalty kick.
- Torres scored three times against Chicago last season. Along with Cartagena and Angulo, Ramiro Enrique also scored last season against the Fire.
- Chicago has limped to a 2-8-5 start in 2024, going winless in its last eight matches. The Fire did snap a four-game losing streak over the weekend, coming from behind to draw D.C. United 1-1 at Audi Field thanks to a Kellyn Acosta goal.
- Fire star Xherdan Shaqiri, in the final year of his contract, was released early to join the Swiss national team ahead of UEFA Euro 2024 and will not be with the team for Wednesday’s match. Shaqiri has struggled as the focal point for the Fire, producing just 14 goals and 18 assists in 69 MLS appearances.
- Chicago’s leading scorers, with three goals apiece, are Belgian DP striker Hugo Cuypers (signed in a club-record deal from Gent this winter) and emerging young attacking midfielder Brian Gutiérrez.
