Orlando City (12-10-7, 43 points) at Columbus Crew (15-5-8, 53 points)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m
Where: Lower.com Field, Columbus, OH
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: 96.9 The Game, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' Saturday night match at Columbus Crew in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Facundo Torres’ next goal will see him match Cyle Larin for the most in club history in all competitions at 44. With 16 goals this year, Torres is also two goals away from matching Larin’s single-season club record of 18 from the Canadian’s 2015 rookie campaign.
- At 24 assists, Torres is two away from tying Nani for second on the all-time charts.
- Torres’ next goal contribution will tie his own single-season club record of 25, set in 2022 when he scored 13 goals and added 12 assists in all competitions. Torres currently has 16 G/8 A in all competitions in 2024.
- Duncan McGuire’s next goal for Orlando, his 26th, will put him past Kaká into sole possession of fourth in club history.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja’s next win will be his 80th for Orlando City in all competitions. Pareja moved into fifth all-time in MLS regular season wins on Wednesday night against Charlotte, securing his 171st victory to move past Dominic Kinnear.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City won yet again on Wednesday night, easing past Charlotte FC 2-0 to move into fourth place in the Eastern Conference table. The Lions hold the tiebreaker edge over the New York Red Bulls (most regular season wins), meaning Orlando controls its own destiny for home field advantage in the Best of 3 MLS Cup Playoffs First Round. Seven of the eight teams with home-field advantage advanced in 2023, including Orlando City.
- Since the calendar flipped to July, Orlando City is 7-1-1 with a +16 goal differential in MLS regular season matches. No team in Major League Soccer has earned more points than Orlando’s 22 since the start of July.
- Facundo Torres continued his torrid run through the second half of the campaign, scoring once again on Wednesday night. Torres has 11 G/6 A in his last 15 matches, including seven goals in his last six home games.
- Let’s hope the official end of summer this weekend doesn’t dull Torres’ momentum. El Cuervo has scored 28 of his 43 Orlando City goals between June and September while also recording 14 of his 24 career assists in the summer months.
- Duncan McGuire has begun to heat up as well, scoring in his second consecutive match on Wednesday. McGuire has two goals and an assist in just 120 minutes since signing his new Orlando City contract on August 22.
- Orlando City has secured clean sheet wins in three consecutive matches for the first time since October-November 2023, when the Lions closed the regular season with a shutout win over Toronto and then famously posted a clean sheet sweep of Nashville SC in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Series History
All-time vs. Columbus - 10-8-4, 0 GD (2-4-2, -3 GD away)
MLS only vs. Columbus - 9-7-3, 0 GD (2-4-2, -3 GD away)
2015 - L 3-0 (A), D 2-2 (H), W 2-0 (H/USOC), W 5-2 (H)
2016 - D 2-2 (A), L 1-4 (H)
2017 - L 2-0 (A), D 1-1 (H), L 0-1 (H)
2018 - L 3-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2019 - W 0-2 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2020 - W 2-1 (H)
2021 - W 3-2 (H), L 3-2 (A)
2022 - W 0-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2023 - D 2-2 (A), W 4-3 (H), L 0-2 (H/MLS Cup Playoffs)
2024 - L 0-2 (H)
Meet the opponent: Columbus Crew
- For the first time since July 20, Orlando City will meet a team higher in the table on Saturday night when they travel to Columbus to face the defending champion crew on a short week. The Crew defeated Toronto 2-0 in Ontario on Wednesday night and sit two points back of rivals Cincinnati for second place in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.
- Columbus has enjoyed an extraordinary last 12 months, winning MLS Cup in 2023 and Leagues Cup in 2024, defeating LAFC in both finals. The Crew also reached the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, falling to Pachuca. Columbus has a chance to add another trophy on Wednesday when it faces Club América in the Campeones Cup at Lower.com Field.
- Orlando City fell victim to a very unusual refereeing decision in its first match with Columbus this year back in May, when a penalty to the Lions was overturned and changed to a penalty to the Crew via VAR. That call sapped much of the momentum Orlando had built, ultimately leading to a 2-0 Crew victory. Columbus has won two straight against Orlando for the first time since 2017-18.
- Columbus features MLS’ top defense, conceding just 28 times this season in 28 matches. The Crew sport the league’s best goal differential at +26 and have posted 11 clean sheets in the regular season, also tops in MLS. Orlando City, for the record, is tied for fourth with nine clean sheets.
- On an individual level, Colombian forward Cucho Hernández has enjoyed a remarkable season with 20 G/14 A in 33 appearances in all competitions, including 4 G/3 A during the Crew’s run to the Leagues Cup title. Cucho broke out of a mini-slump on Wednesday night, scoring for the first time since the Leagues Cup final and assisting on the Crew’s other goal.
- Diego Rossi, who scored a brace against Orlando in May, has also been outstanding for Wilfried Nancy’s side. The Uruguayan international and childhood friend of Facundo Torres has 19 G/11 A in 40 games this season, including six goals in five appearances in Leagues Cup.
