Orlando City (3-5-4, 13 points) at San Jose Earthquakes (3-9-1, 10 points)
When: Saturday, 10:30 p.m
Where: PayPal Stadium, San Jose, CA
Radio: 96.9 the Game FM, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions road trip to take on San Jose Earthquakes in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Oscar Pareja’s next win will be his 70th as Orlando City head coach in all competitions and his 60th with Orlando in the MLS regular season. Pareja has 162 regular season wins in his MLS career, sixth all-time and eight behind Dominic Kinnear for fifth.
- Rafael Santos is two appearances away from 50 in all competitions for Orlando City.
- Duncan McGuire’s next goal will see him tie Chris Mueller for sixth on the Lions’ all-time scoring charts.
- 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.
Stats & Storylines
- While Orlando City did not find the back of the net, the Lions were able to shut out Inter Miami on Wednesday night, becoming the first team to keep the Herons off the board since the New York Red Bulls on March 23 and the second all season in any competition. Pedro Gallese picked up his 38th clean sheet as a Lion.
- The Lions held Miami to just six shots, the Herons’ fewest in any match this season. Miami accrued only 0.60 expected goals, their second-lowest total of the campaign.
- Orlando midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro ranks third in MLS in goal creating actions per 90 minutes, trailing only Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez. Lodeiro is fourth in the league among qualified players in expected assists per 90 and third in progressive passes per 90. Lodeiro has 85 assists in 203 career MLS games.
- Forward Luis Muriel had six successful dribbles against Miami, leading to three shots and three chances created. Muriel is second in all of MLS behind Atlanta’s Thiago Almada in successful dribbles per 90 minutes this season.
- 2024 first round pick Yutaro Tsukada made his MLS debut in the closing minutes of the Orlando/Miami game, becoming the first Japanese-born player to suit up for Orlando City. Tsukada, drafted 25th overall out of West Virginia, is on a Short-Term Agreement from Orlando City B and is eligible for selection this weekend in San Jose.
Series History
All-time vs. San Jose - 2-1-3, +3 GD (0-1-2, -3 GD away)
MLS only vs. San Jose - Same
2015 - D 1-1 (A)
2016 - D 2-2 (H)
2017 - D 1-1 (A)
2018 - W 3-2 (H)
2019 - L 3-0 (A)
2021 - W 5-0 (H)
Meet the opponent: San Jose Earthquakes
- Orlando City obliterated San Jose the last time the two clubs met in June 2021, scoring three times in the opening 31 minutes and going on to win 5-0. Benji Michel and Daryl Dike both notched a brace on the night, while Nani added the opener just seven minutes into the contest.
- That win exorcized some demons for Oscar Pareja against San Jose. Despite winning multiple trophies and making the playoffs in five of seven seasons, the Orlando head coach was just 4-10-5 against the Quakes across seven years in the Western Conference with Colorado and Dallas.
- On the other hand, Nico Lodeiro dominated San Jose during his time with the Seattle Sounders, scoring six goals and adding seven assists in 13 appearances against the Earthquakes.
- San Jose took a cruel loss on Wednesday night in Portland. Leading 2-0 in the second half, center back Bruno Wilson committed a handball attempting to clear a shot off the line, resulting in both a red card and a penalty kick. However that red card was later rescinded by the league's Independent Review Panel. The Timbers converted the PK and proceeded to score three more times, sending the Quakes home with a 4-2 loss. Wilson will be suspended for Saturday’s game against Orlando.
- For the year, San Jose are 3-9-1 and sit in last place in the Western Conference, but they’ve shown signs of life of late. The Quakes won their last two matches prior to Wednesday and were ahead comfortably before going down to 10 men against Portland.
- New DP attacking midfielder Hernán López has adapted smoothly to MLS since signing for San Jose from Godoy Cruz at the close of the primary transfer window three weeks ago. The 23-year-old López, the grand-nephew of the legendary Diego Maradona, has two goals in his first three appearances for the Quakes.
- Winger Cristian Espinoza has remained deadly for San Jose in 2024. Espinoza’s eight assists have him tied for second in MLS. The Buenos Aires native has 65 assists in his MLS career, including 35 since the start of the 2022 season.
